Chhattisgarh: Top Naxal leader carrying Rs 45 lakh bounty killed in encounter in Bijapur

Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) [India], June 6 (ANI): A top Naxal leader, carrying a bounty of Rs 45 lakh, was killed during an encounter with security forces in the National Park area of Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, officials said on Friday.
According to Bijapur police officials, the Naxal leader was identified as Bhaskar Rao, alias Mailarapu Adellu and Mandugula Bhaskar Rao.

Inspector General of Bastar Range, P Sundarraj, said that security forces recovered Rao's body from the encounter site along with an AK-47 rifle, explosives, and other weapons.
He said the search operation is still ongoing to trace other Naxals hiding in the area.
Bhaskar was the Secretary of the Mancherial-Komarambheem (MKB) division of the Telangana State Committee of the CPI (Maoist) outfit and served as a Special Zonal Committee (SZC) member. A resident of Urumadla village in Telangana's Adilabad district, he carried a total bounty of Rs 45 lakh, including Rs 25 lakh announced by the Chhattisgarh government and Rs 20 lakh by the Telangana government, the IG said.
His death comes just a day after another senior Naxal leader, Sudhakar (alias Gautam), a Central Committee Member (CCM) of the CPI (Maoist), was found dead in the same forest area. An AK-47 was found with him as well.
He was neutralised by security forces on Thursday, June 5, during an operation in Bijapur's national forest area. Gautam's neutralisation marked another major success for security forces in their sustained operations against the Maoist leadership in Bastar.
This is the third major blow to the Naxal hierarchy in just over three weeks.
On May 21, security forces recovered the body of a Central Committee Politburo member and CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Basava Raju in a massive operation in the Abujmarh area in Narayanpur district, in which 26 other naxals were neutralised. Raju was known as the 'backbone of the Naxal movement,' a top leader in the organisation.
"On May 21, after the recovery of the body of CPI (Maoist) leader, Central Committee Politburo member and CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Basava Raju in Abujhmarh forest, today on 5th June, security forces received a huge success in anti-naxal operation," officials said.
An AK-47 rifle, along with arms, ammunition and various explosive materials, were also recovered after the encounter.
"In the Bijapur national park area, inputs regarding the presence of CPI (Maoist) senior Maoist cadres and PLG cadres were received. Based on that, the STF, DRG, and CoBRA joint teams were sent for operation. During the operation, exchange of fire between security forces and Naxals took place multiple times. After the exchange of fire, during the search, the body of a Maoist and an AK-47 weapon and a large amount of explosive materials and other arms and ammunition were recovered," they said.
The encounter involved a joint operation by the Special Task Force (STF), District Reserve Guard (DRG), and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA). (ANI)