Top Maoist leader, carrying $46,630 bounty, killed in Chhattisgarh encounter: Report

A senior Maoist leader, carrying $46,630 (Rs 40 lakh) bounty, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Thursday (June 5), news agency PTI reported citing official sources.

This comes days after CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju was killed by security forces in the Bastar region.

The senior Maoist leader has been identified as Gautam alias Sudhakar and is reportedly Maoists' Central Committee member. He was gunned down in the latest gunfight in Bijapur. However, Sudhakar's death is yet to be officially announced.

Encounter in Bijapur

A senior police official posted in Bastar Range told PTI that the exchange of fire broke out in the forest of Indravati national park area when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation based on inputs about the presence of senior cadres. Personnel belonging to the Special Task Force, District Reserve Guard, both units of the Chhattisgarh police, and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action - an elite unit of CRPF) were involved in the operation, he said. The offensive was launched based on inputs about the presence of Maoist leader Sudhakar, Telangana State Committee member Bandi Prakash, Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) member Pappa Rao, and a few other armed cadres, the official said.