VISAKHAPATNAM: While the Andhra Pradesh police said they had not yet identified the 24 Maoists who were killed in the gunfight in the forests of Malkangiri district in Odisha on Monday, several important leaders of CPI (Maoist) are said to have died in the fighting.
Gajarla Ravi alias Ganesh
Ganesh (47), a native of Warangal, dropped out of college while studying mechanical engineering to join the Naxalite movement in 1991. He was the third of five brothers in the family. His brother, Azad, was also a key Maoist leader who was killed in an encounter in Telangana a few years back.
Another brother Sarayya, surrendered to the police on health grounds. Ganesh was one of the top 10 Maoists who had played a key role in talks with the Y S Rajaseskhara Reddy regime in 2006. According to the police, Ganesh was involved in the attack on Chandrababu Naidu at Alipiri in Tirupati in 2003.
Chalapathi Rao
A very active Maoist, Chalapathi (51) was involved in a number of operations in Telangana. He played a vital role in planning and executing several attacks. He and his wife are believed to have been killed in the latest encounter.
Daya
An important commander in the Maoist movement, Daya was involved in many operations and several cases were booked against him in north coastal Andhra. He also had several rewards on his head. He is considered to be an expert in planning, particularly in drawing up escape routes. Aruna was an active member of the CPI (Maoist).
Munna
Son of CPI (Maoist) Central Committee member and AOB Special Zonal Committee member Ramakrishna, Munna was is said to be among those killed. In fact, Ramakrishna was also expected to be in the area and combing operations were taken up after receiving inputs on his movements. He was to attend the plenary scheduled for Sunday.