Top Maoist Leader Basava Raju Among 27 Naxals Killed By Security Forces In Chhattisgarh Encounter

Top CPI(Maoist) leader Nambala Keshava Rao, also known as Basava raju, was among around 27 Naxals killed in an anti-maoist operation by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur.

The operation, which lasted three days, resulted in the elimination of several top Naxal commanders.

Lauding the achievement by the security forces, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "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".

Basavraj, aged 68, was the CPI(Maoist) general secretary and a member of its Politburo, Central Committee, and Central Military Commission.

He hailed from Jiyyannapeta in Srikakulam district of Telangana and had done engineering from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal.

He had a Rs 1 crore bounty on his head, declared by the NIA and various state governments, including the Chhattisgarh government.

He was known by at least eight aliases and had taken over the reins of CPI(Maoist) from Ganapathy.

On Wednesday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had commended the courage and determination of the security personnel involved in the operation, emphasizing that the fight was for peace and development.

The operation by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from four districts of Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Kondagaon was launched based on information that a senior Maoist leader was hiding in a specific area in Abujhmad.

The search operation is still underway, and authorities expect to recover a large cache of weapons and other materials.

This operation follows a 21-day Operation Blackforest in Karreguttalu Hills on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, where 31 Maoists were killed and a large cache of weapons and Naxal supplies were recovered.