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NEW DELHI/RAIPUR: CPI (Maoist) chief Nambala Keshava Rao, alias Basavaraju – mastermind of some of the deadliest Maoist attacks in the country – was killed in Chhattisgarh‘s Narayanpur on Wednesday in an intelligence-based operation conducted by the state police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG).Twenty-six other Maoists were also eliminated. A massive haul of modern weapons and explosives was recovered. One DRG man was killed in the encounter that broke out in Boter village and the jungles of Lekawada.Apart from being a founder member of the outfit, born from the merger of People’s War (PWG) and MCC in 2004, 70-year-old Basavaraju was part of its top decision-making/strategising bodies like the politburo, central committee and central military commission. He operated with extreme stealth, having been spotted only a few times in Abujhmarh region and on a handful of occasions, outside.
Basavaraju, who carried a cumulative bounty of over Rs 10 crore declared by NIA and various state govts, would shuffle between different ‘combat zones’ and act as a bridge between the cadre and the brass. A trained engineer, he would often be part of ambushes. Not surprisingly, his body was found with an AK-47 next to it.Home minister Amit Shah confirmed his death and referred to him as “the backbone of the Naxal movement”. “The outfit is now headless,” a senior intel officer told TOI, hailing his killing as the biggest success against Maoists in the last 25 years. Basavaraju was an ‘ops’ man, vouched for extreme violence Though Maoists had lately been haemorrhaging, having lost hundreds of their cadre and many of their top members in combats with security forces, Basavaraju’s death will rank as one of the most severe blows.“Modi govt has resolved to eliminate Naxalism before March 31, 2026,” Shah said while applauding the “brave” security forces and agencies for the breakthrough. He added that after completion of the 21-day Operation Black Forest on May 11, 54 Naxalites had been arrested and 84 had surrendered across Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Maharashtra. The PM too hailed the “remarkable success”. “Our govt is committed to eliminating the menace of Maoism and ensuring a life of peace and progress for our people,” he posted on X.It was also celebrated by Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai. “More surrenders are bound to follow,” he told TOI while commending DRG personnel for their bravery. The personnel in DRG, largely comprising surrendered Maoists, enjoy the advantage of being familiar with the Abujmarh terrain as well as with the Naxals’ operational tactics. Basavaraju, an engineer and alumnus of REC (now NIT), Warangal, was an ‘operations’ man who believed in military-style assault, understood technology and was a proponent of extreme violence. The attacks planned under him were deadly, with Hidma, who leads the PLGA battalion No. 1, executing them to a T, former CRPF DG K Vijay Kumar told TOI. News of Basavaraju’s killing began swirling in the morning. The confirmation came after diligent verification and was immediately celebrated. “We have got him, it is him,” a senior officer involved in the operation said.Deputy CM and home minister Vijay Sharma said the operations went on for 72 hours. It was preceded by elaborate planning over 15 days before state police got confirmation of Basavaraju’s presence in Orchha region of Abujhmarh. According to a police officer, they gathered inputs from Andhra Pradesh police and surrendered cadres to zero in on Basavaraju. Police learnt that Basavaraju was among a clutch of top Maoist functionaries camping in Abujhmarh, protected by hardcore PLGA cadres and senior Marh division members. Once their camp was located, DRG teams set out from four districts – Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Kondagaon.Gunfights broke out in a patch of dense jungle, some 15-20 km from Orchha. The guns fell silent on Wednesday when the Maoists broke off and retreated. A police statement said several other senior-level Maoist cadres were either killed or seriously injured in the encounter. It would take 24 hours for the troops to return, and more details would be known then.
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