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Time of India
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Basavaraju: BTech degree holder who 'engineered' major Naxal attacks on security forces
Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju , the powerful general secretary of CPI ( Maoist ) killed in an encounter along with 26 others on Wednesday, had masterminded several major attacks on security forces in Chhattisgarh and his death is a big blow to the armed movement, said officials. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Basavaraju, who carried a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head in Chhattisgarh, had been associated with the banned movement since 1970s and was elevated to the top post in CPI (Maoist) seven years ago, they said. He was among the 27 dreaded Naxals killed by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region. The encounter took place in dense forests of Abhujmad on the tri-junction of Narayanpur-Bijapur-Dantewada districts. The killing of long-hunted Maoist leader, who masterminded several major Naxalite attacks, marks the most significant achievement in efforts by the government and security forces to eliminate Left-wing extremism (LWE) from the country, the officials asserted. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 30:17 Loaded : 0.86% 00:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 30:17 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Windows Users Don't Forget To Do This Before Wednesday Read More Undo Basavaraju, considered an expert in guerrilla warfare, took over as general secretary of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) in 2018, replacing Muppala Lakshmana Rao alias Ganpathy, then aged 71, who stepped down from the position due to his deteriorating health condition and age-related issues. Ganpathy was holding the position since 2004 when the Community Party of India (Maoist) was formed with the merger of the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) (People's War) and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) to lead the armed movement. Since 2018, Maoists had executed several deadly attacks in Bastar, including in Tekalgudem (Bijapur) where 22 security personnel were killed in 2021, the 2020 Minpa ambush (Sukma) wherein 17 security personnel lost their lives and Shyamgiri attack (Dantewada) in April 2019 in which BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi and four security personnel were killed. Live Events A resident of Jiyannapeta village in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, Basavaraju holds a BTech degree from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, and was seen as an enigmatic leader of the outlawed Naxal outfit. Known by the aliases of Prakash, Krishna, Vijay, Umesh and Kamlu, he joined the armed movement in the 1970s as a ground-level organizer, a police official told PTI. In 1992, he was elected as a member of the central committee of the erstwhile Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist People's War, when Ganapathy became its general secretary, he said. Before being elevated as general secretary, he headed the Central Military Commission (CMC) of Maoists for several years, police said. Considered an expert in imparting military training and handling explosives and landmines, cadres of Basavaraju's team were equipped with sophisticated weapons. A three-layered ring of armed cadres he kept around him in forests had so far made him untraceable by security forces, they said. Basavaraju's age and looks is still a matter of speculation with security agencies suggesting he was around 71 years of age. They just have a bundle of old photos of him of his young age. For the last few years, security forces have been consistently carrying out intelligence-based operations in interiors of Bijapur and Sukma to target Central Committee and Polit Bureau members of Maoists and they finally succeeded in eliminating Basavaraju in dense jungles and tough terrain, which had kept him and his team safe so far, a police officer said on the condition of anonymity. Polit Bureau is the topmost decision-making body of CPI (Maoist) and Basavaraju was a member of it. Wednesday's encounter was part of an operation launched three days ago to corner Central Committee and Polit Bureau members of the banned outfit, the officer said. The encounter took place following 70-hour-long combing by security forces in dense forests of Abhujmad. Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from four districts -- Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Kondagaon -- were involved in the operation based on intelligence inputs about the presence of Central Committee and Polit Bureau members of CPI (Maoist), as well as senior Maad Division cadres and PLGA (Peoples' Liberation Guerilla Army) members, he said. DRG is the frontline anti-Naxal unit of the state police. A large cache of weapons was recovered during the anti-Naxal operation, he said. One DRG member was also killed, while a few other personnel sustained injuries during the encounter, the officer said. Accused of plotting multiple Naxalite attacks, Basavaraju carried a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head in Chhattisgarh. However, governments of other states, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana, had also announced rewards of different amounts on him, he said. Security experts hailed the operation as a historic achievement in the fight against Naxalism in the country and commended the DRG's role in the encounter. "Basavaraju was trained in guerrilla warfare by Maoist leader Ganpathy's friend and first general secretary Sita Ramaiah. Basavaraju was chief commander of the central military wing during Ganpathy's tenure as general secretary," said Dr Girishkant Pandey, a security expert and principal at a government college in Nawagarh (Bemetara district). "Basavaraju had no experience in running the organisation politically and therefore after his elevation as general secretary, the Maoist movement slowed down," opined Pandey. Security forces have achieved a major success by killing this top Naxal commander after penetrating his security cover. Now the Naxalite outfit has no senior leader in the 40 to 50 age group, he added.
Scroll.in
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Rush Hour: Pakistan authorises military response to Indian strikes, 22 alleged Maoists killed & mo
We're building a brand-new studio to bring you bold ground reports, sharp interviews, hard-hitting podcasts, explainers and more. Support Scroll's studio fund today. Pakistan's National Security Committee has authorised its armed forces to respond to Indian military strikes on nine sites in the country and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India said the 'focused, measured' action, which it named Operation Sindoor, had targeted terrorist camps in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Pakistan acknowledged the strikes but claimed they hit civilian infrastructure. Reports suggested that 26 Pakistanis were killed in the attack. Ten civilians were later killed in cross-border shelling in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch. Ajaz Ahmed Jan, the Poonch Haveli MLA, told Scroll that he visited the Poonch district hospital where nine of those killed were taken. Two of them were children. Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said earlier in the day that Islamabad was open to de-escalation if India backed down. More than 200 flights from North and Central Indian airports were cancelled on Wednesday amid changing airspace restrictions. The terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam town on April 22 had left 26 dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu. Read on. At least 22 suspected Maoists were killed on Wednesday in a gunfight with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, during what officials have called India's biggest anti-Maoist operation yet. The clash occurred in the Karregutta hills on the Telangana border, as part of 'Mission Sankalp' – an offensive launched on April 21 involving 24,000 personnel. The authorities say 26 Maoists have been killed since the operation began, and over 250 explosive devices recovered. Inspector General Sundarraj P said hideouts and bunkers had been destroyed. The offensive comes despite repeated calls from the insurgent Community Party of India (Maoist) for peace talks. Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that families of those killed in earlier operations have challenged police claims, insisting the dead were civilians. With Wednesday's deaths, over 150 suspected Maoists have been killed in gunfights with security personnel this year. In 2024, 217 suspected Maoists were killed by security forces. Read on. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Punjab government and police not to interfere with the operations of the Bhakra Nangal Dam. The followed allegations that the Punjab Police had forcibly taken control of dam facilities to block the flow of water to Haryana amid a new dispute over the sharing of river water. The court criticised Punjab's actions as unconstitutional. The water row began after Haryana requested 8,500 cusecs of water (4,500 cusecs more than than its mandated quota) on April 23. Punjab opposed the decision of the Bhakra Beas Management Board to release it, despite support from other states and the Centre. The High Court said Punjab could take its objections to the Union government but it must follow the Board's decisions. On Monday, Punjab had passed a resolution refusing to release 'a single drop' to Haryana.
