Big Win Against Naxals As Top-Most Leader Killed

Nambala Keshav Rao, considered backbone of the movement, among the 27 Naxals neutralised in an encounter with security forces

- 

Topmost leader and the backbone of the Naxal movement, Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, and 26 other dreaded Maoists were killed by security forces in a fierce encounter in the dense forests of Abhujmad in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.

Police said the gunfight took place in dense forests of Abhujmad on the trijunction of Narayanpur-Bijapur-Dantewada districts.

The operation was launched two days back following intelligence inputs about the presence of Central Committee and Politburo members of the CPI (Maoists) as well as senior Maad Division cadres and PLGA (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) members.

So far, bodies of 27 Naxalites and a large number of weapons have been recovered from the spot. A member of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a unit of Chhattisgarh Police, was also killed in the action while some others sustained injuries, police said.