Years
Sudhakar was assassinated shortly after the murder of Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh in May.
A top Naxalite leader of Rs 40 lakh was killed in an encounter with security forces in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday. The operation took place in the National Park area, where according to intelligence information, the presence of senior Naxalite cadre was indicated. Acting on the information, a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) launched a coordinated campaign in the forest area. The firing between joint forces and Naxalites continued since morning. During the encounter, Sudhakar, a member of the Central Committee, one of the most wanted Naxalite leaders, was killed. He had a reward of 40 lakh rupees.
Sudhakar was assassinated shortly after the murder of Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh in May. He was one of the 30 Naxalites killed in a joint campaign led by District Reserve Guard (DRG) in dense Abujhmad forests – a stronghold of Naxalites. Nambala Keshav Rao, general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), has been part of the Naxalite movement since the late 1970s and was one of its most dreaded strategists. He had a reward of Rs 1.5 crore and was wanted in connection with several deadly attacks on security forces in many states.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah described this campaign as “a historic achievement in the fight to end Naxalism”. He described Nambala Keshav Rao as the backbone of the Naxalite movement and said that this is the first time in three decades of India’s fight against Naxalism that our forces have killed a general secretary level leader. It is noteworthy that 16 Naxalites surrendered in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday, out of which six collectively had a cash reward of Rs 25 lakh.
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