New Delhi: Security forces on May 21 neutralised the general secretary of outlawed CPI (Maoist) Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju. The development marks a critical moment in the security forces fight against the Maoist terror in hinterlands of central Bharat.
Born in Jiyannapeta of Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, Basavaraju was long considered the face of red terror in Bharat.
A B.tech graduate from Regional Engineering College now (NIT) Warangal Vasavaraju got deeply involved with the left politics aligning with the Radical Students Union (RSU), the student wing of the CPI-ML (people’s war).
His deep association with the student union led to his brief arrest after a clash of the student unions at Warangal, a hotbed of ultra-left politics in 80s. This was the only time he got arrested and jailed.
He soon joined the underground Maoist activities and subsequently 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) Central Committee and introduced in the group’s polit bureau in 2001. He was named the Chief of Central Military Commission (CMC) of the group in the same year.
He was considered instrumental in merger of CPI-ML (PWG) and MCCI (Maoist Communist Centre of India) to form the CPI (Maoist) in 2004.
In 2018, when the then general secretary of the Maoists Mupalla Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathy stepped down from the position, Basavaraju was made the general secretary of the banned group, a position he continue to hold till his death in encounter with security personnel on Wednesday. He was carrying a bounty of Rs 1.5 crore and was in the top list of police of various states and NIA.
Mastermind of 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.
It is being widely believed that Basavaraju masterminded the infamous Dantewada ambush which led to the martyrdom of 76 security personnel in 2010 along with the Jheeram massacre which resulted in killing of over 25 people including political leaders in 2013.
He was also believed to be instrumental in orchestrating the 2003 Alipiri blast, targeting Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naydu.
Basavaraju was said to be guarded by the hardcore PLGA (armed wing of the CPI-Maoist) cadres and it was only in recent time that the number of guards attached with him were reduced partially to avoid the risk of being caught by security forces.
His death is considered a major 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. It is being widely speculated that with the neutralisation of Basavaraju the security forces have achieved a decisive edge in their final fight against the red terror.
