Within a month of the encounter of Maoist General Secretary Nambala Kesava Rao, the party suffered another major setback. Party Central Committee member Tentu Lakshmi Narasimhachalam was killed in an encounter in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh. He was popularly known as Sudhakar in the party.
He had aliases like Gautam, Anand, Chanti Balakrishna Ramaraju and Somanna. His hometown is Pragadavaram in Chintalapudi mandal of Eluru district. Sudhakar, who has been involved in the Maoist movement for the past 40 years, has a reward of Rs. 1 crore. He participated in the peace talks with the combined AP government in 2004.
After security forces received specific information about the presence of senior Maoist leaders in the Indravati Tiger Reserve, DRG and STF forces cordoned off the area and started checking. In this sequence, an exchange of fire started between the forces and the Maoists in the early hours of the morning. It is reported that Central Committee member Sudhakar was killed in this operation.
Bijapur SP Dr. Jitendra Yadav confirmed the encounter. The search operation and the exchange of fire is still ongoing. The death toll is likely to increase. The police have recovered a large quantity of automatic weapons and explosives from the encounter site. It is noteworthy that the forces have encountered three leaders of the Maoist Central Committee in a span of six months.
Bastar IG P. Sundar Raju said that they have received information that Telangana State Committee member and former Maoist Party press in-charge Bandi Prakash and Special Zone Committee senior leader Papa Rao are also there. Prakash is in charge of Maoist recruitment, propaganda and monitoring activities in South Bastar. There is a reward of Rs. 25 lakh on him.
Papa Rao is a guerrilla warfare expert. He is known for laying traps. He is the most wanted in many IED and other attacks. There is a reward of Rs. 20 lakh on him. Information about both of them has not been disclosed.
The Center is taking strategic steps under the name of Operation Kagar to eradicate Maoists in the country by March next year. As part of this, hundreds of Maoists have already been killed in several encounters in Chhattisgarh. Also, some more Maoists have surrendered before the government. On the other hand, some more Maoists have been arrested by the police.
