2 top Maoist commanders wanted in 4 states killed in encounter

Time of India

2 days ago

Raipur: After giving many slips to security forces in various encounters in past two decades, top Maoist commanders of north Bastar region and Rajnandgaon-Kanker border (RKB) division in Chhattisgarh were killed in an encounter with state police, District Reserve Guard (DRG), and 27th battalion of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Wednesday.
Briefing the reporters with details, Mohla, superintendent of police Y P Singh and ITBP 27th battalion commandant Vivek Kumar Pandey confirmed the identities of the deceased and described the operation as a significant blow to Maoist influence in the region.
The slain Maoist identified as Vijay Reddy, alias Chinanna, alias Naganna, alias Shankar (55), and Lokesh Salame (35).
A native of Balarampuram Mandal, Atmakur, Reddy was a senior Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) member and in-charge of the RKB division.
For over two decades, he had evaded capture, earning a reputation among locals as the "ghost" of Left Wing Extremism in the area.
Reddy was wanted in three states—Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Telangana—with bounties totalling of Rs 90 lakh on his head: Rs 25 lakh each from Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra Police, Rs 20 lakh from Telangana police, and Rs 20 lakh from Andhra Pradesh police.
He was a key suspect in the 2009 Rajnandgaon ambush in which then SP Vinod Kumar Chaubey and his policemen were martyred, an attack jointly carried out by Maoist units from Gadchiroli and north Bastar.
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He is also believed to have orchestrated multiple civilian killings in the region.
The second slain cadre, Lokesh Salame, was serving as secretary of the RKB division since Jan 2025. He was instrumental in mobilising cadres in Rajnandgaon district and later in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district. Salame carried a bounty of Rs 10 lakh from Chhattisgarh police and Rs 16 lakh from Maharashtra police, totalling Rs 26 lakh.
Authorities had no photograph of him prior to the encounter.
A Turning Point in RKB Division
The RKB division has long been a stronghold for Maoist violence. Following the 2009 ambush, the Centre deployed ITBP units to dominate the area.
Calling the deaths of Reddy and Salame the "end of an era of terror" in the RKB division, SP Singh urged remaining Maoists to lay down arms and join the mainstream.
The gun battle erupted around 5 pm when security forces came under fire from suspected Maoists during an anti-Naxal operation in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district. The firefight lasted nearly three hours. After the guns fell silent, forces recovered the bodies of two senior cadres along with an INSAS rifle, a .303 rifle, a walkie-talkie, daily-use items, and other materials from the site.
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