Raipur: In yet another success for security forces in the ongoing battle against red terror, a top Maoist leader was eliminated in an encounter that broke out between a joint team of security forces and Maoists in Bijapur district.
According to reports, Tentu Lakhmi Narsimha Chalam alias Goutham alias Sudhakar, a central committee member of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) has been gunned down in encounter in Indravati Park Area of Bijapur on June 5.
Sudhakar, a top cadre of the group was associated with the Dandkaranya Special Zonal Committee. He was carrying a bounty of Rs 40 lakhs on his head. He also reportedly carrying bounty announced by other states.
An original resident of West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, Sudhakar was active in the Maoist outfit for around three decades and was wanted by police of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Maharashtra.
The operation was launched by a joint team comprising personnel from District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) upon receiving intelligence about the presence of senior Maoist cadres.
The operation is still reported to be underway in the area and more details about the encounter are awaited. The security team has also recovered automatic weapons from the site of encounter.
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It is to be noted that a number of top Maoist leaders were eliminated in various operation carried out by the forces in recent months. Earlier, a team of security personnel on May 21 gunned down the general secretary of CPI (Maoist) Namabala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju in an encounter in Abujhmad of Narayanpur.
The operation was launched by DRG teams of separate districts, upon receiving intel related to presence of Basavaraju in forests of Jatloor in Abujhmad.
In a fierce exchange of fire that broke out between the Maoists and DRG teams on May 21, the personnel neutralised as many as 27-28 hardcore Maoists including its top ranked leader Basavaraju.
The operation resulted in a body blow to the Maoists as this was the first time that the top leader of the unlawful group was eliminated in an encounter.
An engineer from REC Warangal, Basavaraju was the head of the Maoist’s military wing known as the ‘Central Military Commission’ before donning the role of general secretary of the dreaded group in 2018.
According to police, Basavaraju was directly or indirectly involved in over 250 criminal cases, a figure reflecting the threat posed by him. He was considered the mastermind of several deadly attacks carried out by the Maoist group resulting in death of hundreds of security personnel and innocent civilians.
A large cache of weapons including those looted by the Maoists during the deadly attack on security forces in Dantewada in 2010 and Burkapal attack in Sukma in 2017 were also recovered following the encounter.
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