Latest news with #Basavraju
Mint
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
This may be the nail in the coffin of Maoist menace
The winters in 2014 had waned and Manmohan Singh too was lumbering towards at the fag-end of a decade-long reign as the prime minister of India. Like a whirlwind, Bharatiya Janata Party's 'prime ministerial' candidate, Narendra Modi, was poised to storm the portals of power in Delhi. Before officially relinquishing his post, the suave and mild-mannered Singh invited a select group of editors to a breakfast meeting. A question popped up during the general conversation to list three important issues that remained unfulfilled during his tenure. One of the three was Maoist Insurgency. Also read: The many dangers that democracy confronts today Manmohan Singh felt that despite every effort, Maoism was spreading throughout the country. He felt that if the trend continued unabated, then within a few years it would have enough firepower to create a wedge in the centre of India. His fears weren't unfounded. The Maoist insurgents were running a parallel government in many districts of Maharashtra, Telangana, and West Bengal. Their regional units decided on who would bid for government contracts, whether mobile towers would be set up or not. Even schools and police stations were under their influence. They would organize Jan Adalat (people's courts), conduct hearings, announce sentences, and deliver punishment. They were running a parallel government within the state. To deal with the menace, 'Operation Greenhunt' was launched in Manmohan Singh's second term, but failed to achieve its objective. Also read: The army can fight an enemy. Who will fight the trolls? His unfinished agenda has been completed to a great extent by the Modi government. Last Wednesday, the operation to snuff out Naxals led by home minister Amit Shah registered a defining success when security forces gunned down Nambala Kesava Rao, alias Basavraju, in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur region. Basavraju was the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). He was also the head of the party's military wing. This meant he shouldered the responsibility of the organization, ideology and the armed struggle. He performed his task with the utmost brutality. The death of more than 100 soldiers is a bloody testimony to his 'red menace'. The government declared a ₹1.5 crore bounty on his head. His killing is a decisive blow to the armed Maoist insurgents. Basavraju was the last flag-bearer in the almost 60-year-old tradition of Kanu Sanyal, Charu Majumdar, Kishanji and Ganapati. Kishanji's killing and Ganapati's arrest marked a precipitous fall in the number of leaders with the same depth, strength of ideological conviction, and organizing abilities. At such a critical juncture in the Maoist insurgency, Basavraju took the reins of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2017—though the world only learned about it a year later, on 10 November, 2018, in an official communique. Also read: World should take note of Pak's nuclear bombs Like most of his predecessors, Basavraju was educated. He had a degree in engineering from Warangal Government Engineering College. During his time in college, he gravitated towards ultra-left ideology. Its followers believed in what Kanu Sanyal used to say—that Gore Saheb Gaye par Kale Saheb Aa Gaye (white bosses have left, leaving behind black bosses). These ideology-driven young men felt that on 15 August, 1947, one set of rulers was replaced by another set of rulers. They forgot this when they transitioned from ideological struggle into an armed insurgency. The gun-toting men morphed into a new class of oppressors, losing their moral authority. This was the reason Maoists kept losing support among the people of the jungle, whom the government and we in the urban areas call tribals. Earlier, these jungles, land, and people acted as their protective shields. Basavraju's post can be filled by any of his lieutenants, but the moot point is whether they would be able to fill the void created by his demise. Will the new person be able to match his zeal and intellectual prowess? The answer is an emphatic no by experts. It's no surprise that Shah has given a deadline of March 2026 to end the Maoist menace. Never before has anyone seen this degree of confidence among the ruling dispensation in tackling the Maoist threat. If the central government delivers on its promise, it would be a logical end to a bloody insurgency that began in 1967 and kept threatening the Indian state intermittently. It would also help at least a big chunk of five states to finally connect with the national mainstream. Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
27 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh encounter identified: DGP
Narayanpur/ New Delhi: Twenty-five Maoist cadre deployed on the protection of Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, were among the 27 ultras — along with the top Maoist himself — killed in an encounter with security forces in the Abhujhmad jungles of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, officers aware of the matter said on Thursday. One member of the special zonal committee, Jangua Naveen, was also among those killed, they added. 'Twenty-five cadres of People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) company number 7 who were given responsibility of guarding Basavaraju were killed in the encounter. We believe they were about 35 in number and the rest of them managed to escape,' a senior officer said, requesting anonymity. Company 7 of PLGA, meant for the protection of central committee members and general secretary, usually operates in the Abujhmad area, officers said. 'All Maoists killed in the encounter have been identified,' Chhattisgarh DGP Arun Dev Gautam said. In all, 12 automatic weapons, three under barrel guns, four .303 and three 12 bore guns were also recovered. Basavaraju, who was gunned down by the security forces on Wednesday morning at the Boker village within the Abhujmaad jungles, was hiding in that area for the past 8-10 days, officers said, adding it had become difficult for the 71-year-old general secretary of banned CPI (Maoist) to escape to neighbouring Telangana or Maharashtra. A second senior officer claimed that there was local intel of Basavraju, who had camped in areas around Boker. 'The fierce gunfight happened in Boker where there are no motorable roads. It is a hilly spot. The gunfight site is almost 20-25 km from Bijapur and about 30-35 km from Narayanpur district headquarters,' the officer said. 'For the past 8-10 days, we had intel that Basavraju along with other central committee members were camping as they believed it was an interior area, and the forces would be unable to reach the spot. It took the DRG personnel two days to reach the spot of the encounter. Even after the gunfight, the forces had to use chopper services to bring back the 27 bodies,' the officer added. The officer added that while senior Maoist cadres often flee to nearby Telangana and Maharashtra, the fact that security forces have recently built forward operating bases (FOB) right up to the Telangana border via Bijapur and up to Maharashtra border via Narayanpur may have made it difficult for the senior-most Maoist leader to flee to the two states. 'The security vacuum at different places has been filled in the last 5 months. For example, the recent 22-day operation at the Karreguttalu hills, where Maoists had set up a unified base around 6 months ago, was one such route through which they regularly used to enter Telangana whenever the forces were active in Chhattisgarh. That place and the route are no longer under their control,' the second officer said, adding that four battalions of DRG (around 1,100 personnel) had climbed up to Boker and laid cordons at different places to stop the senior Maoist cadres from fleeing. IG Bastar P Sundarraj said Basavaraju had a direct or indirect role in all Maoist attacks in the LWE-affected states in the last few years, as he was the commander-in-chief of the central military commission (CMC) of Maoists. 'The security forces carried out this operation very tactically, which resulted in the death of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju... This is a great achievement for the security forces,' the IG added. Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai told reporters in Raipur that with the killing of Basavarju, the government has put the last nail in the coffin of left-wing extremism. 'For the first time in three decades, a Maoist of general secretary rank of the banned outfit has been neutralised. This is an extraordinary achievement and a clear indication that we have put the last nail in the coffin of Naxalism,' Sai said. He added that security forces have neutralised more than 400 Maoists and arrested 1,422 others in the last one and a half years. CoBRA commando, Maoist killed in Sukma A CoBRA commando of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a Maoist were killed in an encounter in Sukma district on Thursday, officials said. The anti-Maoist operation, being led by the 210th battalion of CoBRA and also including personnel from Chhattisgarh DRG and STF, is ongoing in Tumrel village area of the district, officials added. As soon as the forces reached the jungle, the Maoists opened firing and the encounter started. 'After the firing stopped, body of a Maoist was recovered from the spot. Three CoBRA commandos sustained bullet injuries and later one succumbed to his injuries,' a statement from Sukma police said. The deceased commando was identified as Mehul Solanki while the identity of the slain ultra is yet to be ascertained.
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Basavaraju was trained by LTTE in jungle warfare, military tactics and IED use
The killing of Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, general secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist), in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday (May 21, 2025) is the biggest strike that the security forces, a combination of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG), can claim in recent times. The news was a bolt from the blue for many who sympathised with the movement. Basavaraju had been elusive since he joined the movement after completing his from the Regional Engineering College (now NIT), Warangal, in 1980. Earlier, he had multiple close shaves in exchanges of fire with the security forces. At least two times, there were references that he had been killed in encounters. Basavaraju figured in the National Investigation Agency's most wanted list with a reward of around ₹1.5 crore. He became the general secretary of the party after Muppala Lakshmana Rao, alias Ganapathi, paved the way for him on November 10, 2018. Before that, he was the chief of the party's Central Military Commission, the main fighting force of the Maoists. Known for his daredevil attitude, security analysts say he was an expert in guerrilla warfare and was trained by the LTTE leaders in jungle warfare, military tactics, and use of improvised explosive devices. He had launched a project to teach Maoists the making of shoulder-fired rocket launchers, though they were rudimentary and technically failed. Basavaraju led many operations, including the attack on the CRPF camp in Dantewada in which 76 personnel were killed in 2010, the Jeeram Ghati attack in which 27 people, including former Minister Mahendra Karma, were killed, and the killing of Kidari Sarveswara Rao, TDP MLA, and former MLA Siveri Soma near Araku valley in the now Alluri Sitharama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh in 2018. After he took over as chief of the CMC and then as general secretary, the Maoists increased their offensive in Chhattisgarh. Former Maoists say the six-foot-tall Basavraju had an imposing personality with a deep voice. He would carry a 9mm pistol, an AK-47, and communication devices. Basavraju was a man of action, they say. He had never been arrested except for one instance in 1979, when he was held for a clash between the Radical Students Union and RSS members at REC, Warangal, causing the death of a student. He was later released on conditional bail. According to H.J. Dora, former Director-General of Police of Andhra Pradesh, Basavaraju was once caught by the police in Visakhapatnam in the early 1980s, when he was disguised as an Ayyappa Deeksha devotee. However, he managed to escape. Early life Basavraju was born on July 10, 1955, in Jiyannapet in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. He was drawn towards the Marxist-Leninist ideology since his engineering days. He joined the CPI(ML) People's War, led by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, in 1980. He was also an active member of the RSU, which is now banned. His active participation with the Naxalite movement started in Visakhapatnam. Foray into Visakhapatnam His active participation with the Naxalite movement started in Visakhapatnam. Basavaraju, along with Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, who was killed in July 2010, established the Rythu Coolie Sangham. He had focused on the tribal areas of now ASR district. From 1980 to 1987, he worked in various capacities in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari district under the East Division. After the expulsion of Kondapalli from the party, he was drafted into the Central Committee of the CPI (ML) PWG, which later became CPI (Maoist) with the merger of PWG and MCC (Maoist Communist Centre), in 2004. He had played a key role in the merger and was the main strategist behind the idea of making the 'Red Corridor' and 'Janatana Sarkar' (People's Government) in Chhattisgarh. In 2001, he became a member of Politburo and the chief of the Central Military Commission (CMC). Meanwhile, his family members at Jiyannapet were not sure whether the body of Basavraj would be brought to his native village.
