Narayanpur: Security forces on May 21 met with a major success in Abujhmad of Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district, neutralising as many as 27 Maoists after a fierce exchange of fire in dense forest patches near Orchha.
The operation which lasted for over 50 hours resulted in neutralisation of Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju (71), general secretary of the outlawed CPI-Maoist, marking a historic moment in security forces’ ongoing campaign against the Maoists.
The achievement signifies security forces grownup capabilities in carrying out pin point operations in Abujhmad, once identical with red terror.
Terming it a landmark achievement in the battle against the Maoists, Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a post on X said “Today, in an operation in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, our security forces have neutralized 27 dreaded Maoists, including Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, the general secretary of CPI-Maoist, topmost leader, and the backbone of the Naxal movement.”
The minister while applauding the forces, emphasised that “this is the first time in three decades of Bharat’s battle against Naxalism that a general secretary-ranked leader has been neutralized by our forces. I applaud our brave security forces and agencies for this major breakthrough.”
A landmark achievement in the battle to eliminate Naxalism. Today, in an operation in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, our security forces have neutralized 27 dreaded Maoists, including Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, the general secretary of CPI-Maoist, topmost leader, and the…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 21, 2025
Shah added that the Modi government is resolved to eliminate Naxalism before the 31st of March 2026.
Who was Nambala Kesavrao alias Basavaraju
A resident of Srikulam district of Andhra Pradesh, Basavaraju was the face of red terror in Bharat for long. He joined the Maoists movement at an early age and was associated with the student group of the then CPI-ML (People’s War Group) before joining its armed wing in subsequent years.
Basavaraju helped the Maoist group to expand its footprints in the undivided Andhra Pradesh including areas of East Godavari and Vishakhapatnam.
Report suggests that the dreaded Maoist leader also received training from former LTTE cadres in forests of Bastar in late 80s. In 1992 Basavaraju was inducted in the CPI-ML (PWG)’s all powerful Central Committee.
In 2004 when the group merged with the MCCI (Maoist Communist Centre of India) to form the CPI (Maoist), Basavaraju was tasked to head the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the newly formed group.
In 2018, Basavaraju was made the general secretary of the banned group after the resignation of ‘Ganpathy’ and was active as the supreme leader of the group since then. He was carrying a bounty of Rs 1.5 crore and was in the top list of police of various states and NIA.
Brainchild behind deadly attacks carried out by the Maoist group
As the head of the Maoist’s CMC and later as its general secretary, Basavraju is long considered as the brainchild behind major deadly attacks carried out by the CPI-Maoist such as the Dantewada ambush which led to the martyrdom of 76 security personnel in 2010 to Jheeram massacre in the year 2013 resulted in killing of political leaders.
It is being widely believed that Basavaraju was guarded by the hardcore PLGA (armed wing of the CPI-Maoist) cadres and it was only in recent time that security guards attached with him were reduced to avoid the threat of being caught by the security forces.
His death is considered a body blow to the Maoist outfit which is already facing a crunch of leadership since the deaths and arrests of many of its top guns in recent years.
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