In one of the most significant blows to the Maoist insurgency in recent years, security forces in Chhattisgarh gunned down 10 senior Maoist cadres during a fierce encounter in Gariaband district on Thursday.
The slain extremists collectively carried a bounty of over ₹5.22 crore, with their ranks including a Central Committee member responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in India’s anti-Maoist history.
Among those killed was Modem Balkrishna, also known by his aliases Manoj and Bhaskar, a top strategist of the banned CPI (Maoist).
Officials revealed that Balkrishna was wanted in 18 criminal cases, including the assassinations of former Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Alimineti Madhava Reddy in 2000 and DIG K. S. Vyas, the founder of the elite Greyhounds anti-Maoist force.
Reddy was killed in an IED blast allegedly ordered in retaliation for his crackdown on Maoists, while Vyas was shot dead while jogging at a Hyderabad stadium.
At a press briefing on Friday, ADGP (Naxal Operations) Vivekanand Sinha confirmed that Balkrishna’s death marked a major milestone, noting that security forces have now eliminated the Maoists’ general secretary and three Central Committee members in recent years.
“This is a huge achievement for us. The combined efforts of Chhattisgarh Police, CRPF, ITBP, and BSF are dismantling Maoist strongholds one by one,” he said.
The encounter took place on the Rajadera-Matal hills under the Mainpur police station limits, when joint forces engaged heavily armed Maoists in the afternoon.
Following the clash, police recovered 10 sophisticated weapons, including AK-47s, SLRs, and INSAS rifles, from the site.
Also among the dead were two senior Odisha State Committee members of the CPI (Maoist), identified as Pramod alias Pandu and Vimal alias Manganna.
Officials believe their deaths will weaken Maoist influence across the bordering districts of Gariaband, Dhamtari, and parts of Odisha, potentially triggering fresh surrenders in the coming weeks.
“This operation will not only disrupt their network in Gariaband and Dhamtari but will also create ripples in their functioning in adjoining districts,” Sinha added, emphasizing that intelligence gathered from the encounter would help security forces further weaken the Maoist infrastructure.
With this decisive strike, officials say the Maoist movement in central India has suffered yet another crippling setback, further narrowing the insurgency’s space for survival.
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