Seven Maoists killed in 3 days of gunfight; activists say 'staged'

A total of seven Maoists, including two top cadres, were killed in encounters with security forces in a major three-day operation against left-wing extremism (LWE) in the forests of Indravati National Park in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Saturday.

- Ritesh Mishra

RAIPUR:

While security forces have intensified the combing and area domination operations in the area considered a key Maoist stronghold bordering Telangana, human rights activists and groups claimed that the encounters, part of the operation that began on Thursday (June 5), were "staged".

Two top Maoist leaders—Sudhakar alias Gautam and Mailarapu Adelu alias Bhaskar—have been neutralised in the ongoing operation, involving personnel from the state police's Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG), as well as the CRPF's specialised unit COBRA, police said in a statement.

"On Thursday, security personnel recovered the body of Sudhakar, a senior Central Committee member and a top-ranking ideologue of the CPI (Maoist). The following day, on Friday, Mailarapu Adelu alias Bhaskar—a prominent Maoist leader from Telangana—was found dead at a nearby location," police said.

Bhaskar, according to police, was reportedly the secretary of the Mancherial-Komarambheem division of Telangana state committee member and carried a reward of ₹45 lakh (₹25 lakh from Chhattisgarh and ₹20 lakh from Telangana). Sudhakar carried a bounty of ₹40 lakh in Chhattisgarh.