Top Maoist with ₹1.1 crore bounty among 6 killed

SEcurity forces crack deadened a top out Maoist leader who oversaw insurrectionist trading operations in Odisha, along with five other rebels, in separate encounters in two neighbouring districts of the state, officials aware of the matter said on Thursday, marking the latest blow to Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) in the country.Ganesh Uike, a member of the Maoist central committee who carried a cumulative bounty of ₹1.10 crore, was killed after a joint team of the Odisha Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF) launched an operation in a dense forest in Kandhamal district on Thursday morning, officials said.“Four Maoists were killed in the gunfight. One of them was identified as 69-year-old Ganesh Uike, a member of the Maoist central committee who played a key role in planning and coordinating armed activities across multiple zones,” additional general of police (anti-Maoist operations) Sanjeeb Panda said. The identities of the other slain Maoists, including two women, were yet to be ascertained.Uike’s marks the death of 11 central committee members so far this year, with people aware of the matter estimating the key decision-making body’s strength to be now down to five.Born in the Nalgonda district of Telangana, Uike took charge of Maoist operations in Odisha in December 2024 after previously heading rebel cadres in the Karnataka–Kerala–Tamil Nadu region, officials aware of the matter said. Known by several aliases — Rupa, Rajesh Tiwari, Chamru and Pakka Hanumantu — Uike had set up his base in Kandhamal district from where he coordinated guerrilla activities. He was promoted to the central committee in 2020 and had worked across Chhattisgarh until November 2024, they added.“The death of Uike is a body blow to the Maoists in the state, as the outfit does not have any senior leader. Modem Balakrishna, who had earlier overseen Odisha affairs for the outfit, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Gariyaband district on September 11,” a senior officer said on condition of anonymity. He was considered the mastermind of the 2013 attack on a Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh’s Jhiram Ghati, which resulted in the deaths of 27 people, including several key state political leaders.“A significant milestone towards a Naxal-free Bharat. In a major operation in Kandhamal, Odisha, six Naxalites, including Central Committee member Ganesh Uike, have been neutralised so far,” Union home minister Amit Shah posted on X, adding that the government was committed to ending LWE by March 31 of the coming year.Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated the forces on the successful operation.“Today, Odisha has achieved remarkable success in the campaign to build a Naxal-free India. During the ongoing joint operation in Kandhamal district, 6 Naxalites, including Ganesh Uike, a member of the Naxal Central Committee, have been neutralised,” Mohan Charan Majhi posted on X.In the past year, security forces across Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha neutralised at least 270 Maoists, secured the surrender of at least 1,225 and arrested 680, including top leaders. Those killed include senior cadres such as Madvi Hidma, Nambala Keshava Rao (Basavaraju), and central committee members Uday alias Gajrala Rao, Katta Ramachandra Reddy and Kadri Satyanarayan Reddy. At least 11 central committee members have also been killed in gunfights this year.The Kandhamal gunfight came hours after security forces launched an operation in the Rambha forest range of neighbouring Ganjam district and killed two Maoists dressed in civilian clothes. Those killed were identified as Bari, alias Rakesh, an Area Committee member of the Rayagada Area Committee under the Bastar–Gadchiroli–North (BGN) division and a native of Sukma district, and Amrit, a platoon member of the Supply Dalam (BGN) from Bijapur district. The encounters are part of a broader government offensive against Maoists, which also includes the construction of roads and the rollout of development projects in areas once affected by LWE.