Bijapur, Chhattisgarh: Security forces on Friday gunned down a senior Maoist leader in a major encounter at the Bijapur National Park in Chhattisgarh. The deceased has been identified as Adella Bhaskar, a key member of the CPI (Maoist)’s Telangana State Committee. An AK-47 rifle and Bhaskar’s body were recovered from the site. Bhaskar had a bounty of Rs 25 lakh on his head.
This development comes just a day after another top Maoist leader, Tentu Lakshmi Narasimhachalam alias Sudhakar — a central committee member — was killed in an intense gun battle with security forces in the same district. His death follows the recent elimination of Maoist central military commission chief Nambala Keshava Rao, marking a series of high-profile setbacks for the Maoist movement.
Security officials consider the back-to-back losses of senior leaders within a short span — including three central committee members in the past six months — as a significant blow to the CPI (Maoist)’s top leadership and operational strength.