Electronic devices of slain top Maoist leader being examined

Hindustan Times

7 hours ago

A host of personal electronic devices of slain top Maoist leader Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, are currently being examined by cyber forensics experts in Delhi, people familiar with the matter said, adding the investigating agencies hope to extract information pertaining to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), its arms suppliers, financiers, as well as future planning. Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju
Basavaraju, 70, the former general secretary of CPI (Maoist), was among the 27 ultras killed in an encounter with security forces in the Abhujhmad jungles of Chhattisgarh on May 21. Officials said that encrypted devices belonging to the top Maoist — a phone, a hard disk and a laptop — recovered near the encounter site are being decoded at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in the national Capital.
'These devices are being examined by cyber forensics experts for extracting the content and we believe they will have valuable information about the operations, network, arms suppliers, etc,' P Sundarraj, inspector general of Bastar Range, said.
Another officer requesting anonymity said the electronic devices of Basavaraju, who was the topmost Maoist leader for decades and brain behind planning all major attacks since 2003, 'are sure to give us leads about the CPI (Maoist) organisation and its operations which we may have not obtained earlier'.
Basavaraju believed that Maoists can achieve their goals only through armed resistance and hence maintained links with the arms dealers, both within India and abroad, as well as planned the funding, recruitment and established contact with other similar organisations or 'anti-India elements' supporting their cause, the officer said.
'To dismantle the entire Maoist network, we need information available with the top Maoist leadership and that is what we believe will find in Basavaraju's devices. The information such as names and contact details of arms suppliers, network of cadres in various districts, hideouts of senior leadership, details of those in cities who mobilise support for their cause, and future planning in the wake of Indian government's aim to end left wing extremism by March 2026 will help us prepare better,' the officer added.
The top Maoist, who was guarded by at least 25 cadre on the day of encounter, had a cumulative reward of ₹ 1.5 crore on his head and was charged in several cases, including the 2003 claymore mine attack on then Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Alipiri in Tirupati. He was also the mastermind of the April 2010 Chintalnar massacre in which Maoists ambushed CRPF personnel returning from patrol and killed 74 soldiers.
Meanwhile, Union home minister Amit Shah during a two-day trip to Chhattisgarh is learnt to have told the security forces to focus on identifying the ideologues of Maoists in cities, other than just ending the armed rebellion, the second officer cited above said. Shah also inquired about the status of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into funding of Maoists.
According to the ministry of home affairs data, while the country witnessed a total of 16,463 Maoist attacks between 2004 and 2014, it came down 53% to 7,744 over the next decade. In these incidents, the number of deaths of security forces came down from 1,851 (2004-14) to 509 (2014-24) while civilian deaths also came down 70% from 4,766 to 1,495 during the period.
During 2019 to 2025, the central forces, in collaboration with state police, have established a total of 320 camps in LWE-affected states, including 68 night-landing helipads. Besides, the number of fortified police stations, which was 66 in 2014, has now increased to around 620.