Team News Riveting
Raipur, June 5
In a major blow to the outlawed Maoist outfit within a fortnight, security forces on Thursday killed another top leader Sudhakar in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district.
Sudhakar, a Central Committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist), was one of the most wanted rebels carrying a cash reward of Rs 1 crore on his head. The encounter took place in the forested National Park area based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of top Maoist operatives in the region.
A joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) of launched a coordinated operation. A gunfight broke out in the early hours today, during which Sudhakar was gunned down.
Bastar Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P said senior Maoist cadre, Central Committee Member (CCM) Gautam alias Sudhakar was neutralized in an exchange of fire between security forces and Maoists in the National Park area of Bijapur District. One AK-47 rifle, along with a large quantity of other explosive materials, arms, and ammunition, was also recovered during the search operation, he added.
Sudhakar’s elimination comes within a fortnight after the killing of Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, the general secretary of CPI (Maoist)—the top most rank in the CPI (Maoist). He was killed in a major operation in May in the Abujhmad forests. He had a bounty of Rs 1.5 crore and was wanted for orchestrating multiple deadly attacks on security forces across states.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had termed Rao’s killing a “landmark achievement”, noting it was the first time in three decades that a general secretary-ranked leader had been neutralised.
