Top Maoist Gunned Down in South Bastar

Security forces gunned down Sudhakar, a top Maoist leader, in Bjiapur district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday. Sudhakar was a Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist) and was active in the South Bastar region.

The operation that led to his death began early on Thursday and took place in the Indravati National Park region of the district. This is an area that is located North of the Indravati River and has for long been inaccessible due to its remoteness and lack of connectivity. Last month, Basvaraju, the top Maoist leader and the General Secretary of the party was killed in the same area. That operation involved meticulous planning for several months.

The encounter that took place on Thursday involved the District Reserve Group (DRG), the CoBRA and other formations of the security forces. This area in Narayanpur district is densely forested and is known to be a haunt of several top ranking CPI (Maoist) leaders who have fled from different parts of South Bastar to the relative sanctuary of this part of the district.

Over time, since 2005, security forces have either killed or ensured the surrender of more than two dozen members of the Central Committee of the party. As a result the moment the number of experienced leaders in that organ has dwindled considerably. Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji is one of the leaders who was speculated to take the top role after the killing of Basvaraju. Recently, a video surfaced in which a young member of Tirupathi’s family, his grand-daughter, made an emotional appeal that he return back to his family. Madvi Hidma, the other well-known Central Committee member, is also a marked man. He was reported active in the Karregutta Hills but gave the security forces a slip last month after a major operation concluded there. Interestingly, he is probably the only adivasi face in the top echelons of the CPI (Maoist) and is not known for his ideological acumen/role and is dreaded armed commander.

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