NIZAMABAD: Seven CPI (Maoist) cadres, including senior leader Loketi Chandar Rao alias Prabhakar, were killed in an ongoing anti-Naxal operation in Gadchiroli district, Chhattisgarh, police said on Friday. A C-60 jawan injured during the encounter also died while undergoing treatment.
According to police sources, Chandar hailed from Isrojiwadi in Sadasivanagar mandal of Kamareddy district. He carried a reward of `50 lakh and was known by multiple aliases, including Swami, Padakal Swamy, Ravi and Prabhakar. Chandar had been underground since 1995. He was a member of the State Committee and served as the SMC in-charge of the 4th Company, besides being secretary of the West Regional Command. He was also in charge of the Maoists’ Gadchiroli Division Committee, West Sub-Zonal Bureau and Company No. 10.
Earlier, police in Telangana had announced a `20,000 reward for his capture, which was later revised by Maharashtra Police.
Kamareddy Superintendent of Police M Rajesh Chandra told TNIE that preliminary information confirmed an exchange of fire in which Prabhakar was killed. “We have just received the information and do not have further details yet,” he said.
The operation began on the night of February 3 near Phodewada village on the Gadchiroli–Narayanpur border, following intelligence inputs about the presence of cadres from Company No. 10 and other Maoist formations moving in from Chhattisgarh. Fourteen units of the C-60, a special anti-Naxal force of Gadchiroli Police, were deployed. After two Maoist camps were busted on Wednesday, additional C-60 units and a QAT unit of the CRPF were sent as reinforcement.
Police said the bodies of three Maoists were recovered on Thursday night along with weapons, including an AK-47 rifle and a self-loading rifle. Four more bodies were retrieved from the area on Friday, taking the total number of Maoists killed in the operation to seven. Identification of some of the slain cadres is still underway.
Meanwhile, C-60 jawan Deepak Chinna Madavi (38), who was airlifted to Bhamragad after sustaining injuries, succumbed during treatment. Another injured jawan, Joga Madavi, was also airlifted and is reported to be out of danger. The operation is continuing, police said.