Senior Maoist among 10 gunned down in Chhattisgarh encounter

RAIPURModem Bala Krishna, a senior leader of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) and telephone exchange citizens committee fellow member (CCM), was suspected to be among 9 other Maoists killed in a trigger-happy gun combat with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Gariyaband district on Thursday, police said.Officials described Bala Krishna as a significant catch for the forces in the region.Bala Krishna, also known by his aliases Balanna, Ramachandar and Bhaskar, had been one of the longest-serving figures in the Maoist organisation. He was the secretary of the Odisha State Regional Committee (ORSC) and a member of the party’s Central Committee, having joined the movement in 1983.“ Bala Krishna is likely to be among those killed in the encounter. The identification of the bodies will be carried out once they reach Gariyaband district headquarters,” said senior police officer, overviewing the anti-naxal operation.Inspector General of Police, Raipur Range, Amresh Mishra said that based on intelligence inputs about the presence of a Central Committee member and his team in the jungles of Gariyaband, a joint force was dispatched on Wednesday night.“On Thursday, the bodies were found after the gunfight stopped. We are yet to confirm the identity of those killed. The bodies will be brought back on Friday,” the IG said.According to police, the encounter began in the aftrenoon in the forests under Mainpur police station limits after teams of STF, CoBRA and district force launched the operation.The exchange of fire continued intermittently through the day, and by evening the bodies of 10 Maoists, including Bala Krishna, were recovered from the spot.“ Some other senior Maoists including Pramod alias Pandu are also suspected to be among those killed. Pandu was a state committee member of Odisha unit,” said a senior police officer.On Wednesday, 16 Maoists surrendered in the state’s Narayanpur town, police said.Bala Krishna’s killing marks another major blow to the Maoist central committee, which has already lost several senior leaders this year.In May, the outfit’s general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju was killed in Abujhmarh in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh. Around the same time, Gautam alias Sudhakar, a central committee member carrying a ₹40 lakh bounty, was killed in Bijapur. In Andhra Pradesh, Gajarla Ravi alias Uday, another CCM and former Andhra-Odisha border special zonal committee secretary, was eliminated in Alluri Sitharama Raju district. Earlier this year, Chalpathi alias Jairam, a central committee member who carried a ₹1-crore bounty, was killed along with 13 others in Gariyaband.A native of Madikonda village in Khazipet, Warangal Urban district of Telangana, Bala Krishna was 64 years old. He had studied up to the intermediate level at Malakpet Junior College in Hyderabad before going underground. He was married to Shyamala, also known as Padma, a former divisional committee member of the outfit who was released from Koraput Jail in Odisha in 2017.Physically stout, about 5 feet 8 inches tall with a dark complexion, Bala Krishna had managed to evade arrest for decades while playing a key organisational role in Odisha and maintaining links with the central leadership of CPI (Maoist).With the latest action, 241 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year. Of them, 210 were eliminated in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts, while 27 others gunned down in Gariaband district which falls in Raipur division.Last year, 219 Naxalites were neutralised by security forces in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh.Intensified anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh have forced the Maoists in India’s Maoism hotspot to reconstitute smaller units and hide in inaccessible areas.Around 20,000 security forces have been deployed in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra for the operations.The government has set a target of eliminating Maoism from the country by next year.