Senior Maoist Sudhakar killed by security forces in Chhattisgarh

Bijapur: Two weeks after the killing of the CPI (Maoist) general secretary, senior Maoist leader Narasimha Chalam alias Sudhakar, who had a bounty of ₹40 lakh on his head, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Thursday, police said.

Sudhakar was a member of the Maoists' Central Committee. A fortnight ago, security forces had killed CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju (70) in the Bastar region.

Originally hailing from Andhra Pradesh, the 67-year-old was involved in the indoctrination and radicalisation of youth, police said. He was responsible for numerous Naxal attacks in Chhattisgarh, resulting in the death of civilians and security personnel, they said. The latest exchange of fire broke out in the forest of the 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, PTI reported, quoting a senior police official posted in Bastar Range.

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 the CRPF) were involved in the operation.