Image used for representational purpose.
Image used for representational purpose. (Photo | PTI)

Maoist leader carrying Rs 1 crore bounty among 14 killed in encounter in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband

Chalpathi was an active member of the Central Committee, which holds significant authority in the banned CPI (Maoist) organization. He had a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head.
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RAIPUR: Fourteen Maoists, including Jairam alias Chalpathi, a Central Committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist) organization, were killed in an exchange of gunfire with security forces on Sunday evening.

The incident occurred in the Kularighat forested area of the Mainpur region in Gariaband district, near the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, approximately 160 km east of Raipur, according to a senior police officer on Tuesday.

Chalpathi was an active member of the Central Committee, which holds significant authority in the banned CPI (Maoist) organization, just below the Politburo. He had a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head, as stated in the press release issued by the state police.

“The encounter began yesterday, and by late evening, the forces had recovered the bodies of two women Maoists. More bodies were found this morning. The casualty count is expected to rise as the search operation has been intensified in the area. This operation marks the first time that several senior leaders of the banned outfit have been killed in Gariaband, Chhattisgarh. All the bodies were recovered from the Gariaband region,” said Nikhil Rakhecha, Superintendent of Police, Gariaband district, speaking to The New Indian Express.

“There were intelligence inputs indicating the presence of senior Maoists assembling in the region. A joint operation was launched involving the Gariaband district force, personnel from the CRPF, the elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), and the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Nuapada, Odisha,” the officer added.

Image used for representational purpose.
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One CoBRA personnel was injured in the gunfight and was airlifted to Raipur yesterday for immediate medical attention at a private hospital. His condition is reported to be stable and out of danger.

The slain Maoists were identified as members of the Mainpur-Nuapada division of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).

This is the second major encounter against Maoists in the Gariaband district near the Odisha border this year.

On January 3, one Maoist was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in the Indagaon forest of the district.

The series of encounters against left-wing extremists is part of a renewed strategy to free the state of Chhattisgarh from the influence of the outlawed Maoists.

Last year, the Maoists suffered a significant setback in the conflict-ridden Bastar region. Security forces neutralized 219 Maoists in separate encounters in southern Chhattisgarh, marking the largest loss in their revolutionary history. Additionally, 992 cadres of left-wing extremists were arrested, and 837 surrendered in the state in 2024.

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