Top Naxal leader with Rs 10 lakh bounty killed in Jharkhand, 24 more surrender
Pappu Lohara, the head of a Naxal outfit Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad and a wanted militant carrying a bounty of Rs 10 lakh, was killed in an encounter with security forces on Saturday morning. Another senior leader of the group, Prabhat Ganjhu, who had a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was also gunned down during the exchange of fire.advertisementA third individual, suspected to be a member of the banned outfit, was arrested during the operation, and a rifle was recovered from him. Officials said the combing operation is still underway in Jharkhand's Latehar region.These latest encounters come close on the heels of the killing of Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, a top-ranking Naxal commander, in Chhattisgarh. Rao was among 30 Naxals shot dead during a massive joint operation led by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) in the dense Abujhmad forests earlier this week.
Security forces have stepped up anti-Naxal operations in multiple states as the Centre pushes towards its March 2026 deadline to eliminate the Maoist insurgency.In a separate development on Friday night, 24 Naxals surrendered before authorities in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh and another 33 Naxalites, 24 of whom carried a combined bounty of Rs 91 lakh, surrendered before security forces in the state's Bastar region, according to police.advertisementDeputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Arun Sao, sharing details of the surrenders, remarked, "Now the Naxalites are leaving the path of extremism and joining the mainstream of the society. We are fully committed to the rehabilitation and revival of these surrendered Naxalites".
In Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, four senior Naxal operatives were shot dead on Friday after they opened indiscriminate fire on commando teams. Security forces retaliated, triggering a gunbattle that lasted nearly two hours. Four bodies were recovered from the site along with a cache of arms and ammunition.Meanwhile, in another encounter that took place around the same time in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, one more Naxalite was killed.Must Watch
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