Encounter in Chhattisgarh; 10 including Maoist Modem Balakrishna with a bounty of one crore on his head killed, 26 arrested

RAIPUR: Ten Maoists, including a leader carrying a reward of one crore on his head, were killed in an encounter in Gariaband, Chhattisgarh this evening. The slain leader has been identified as Modem Balakrishna alias Manoj (58), a senior Maoist commander and CPI (Maoist) central committee member. The encounter between the Maoists and the security forces took place in a forest area under the limits of Mainpur police station. The Chhattisgarh Police's Special Task Force and CRPF's Cobra commandos jointly participated in the operation, and the encounter is ongoing at the spot, Raipur Range Inspector General of Police Amresh Mishra said. Explosives, weapons and banned campaign materials were also recovered.

Modem Balakrishna, who led the Maoist Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) faction, was born in Warangal, Telangana. Balakrishna, also known as Balanna, Ramachandra and Bhaskar, was the Odisha State Committee Secretary of the CPI (Maoist). Balakrishna joined the Maoist movement in the 1980s.

The security forces arrested 26 others besides killing 10 people. The arrests were made in anti-Maoist operations conducted in different police station limits: three from Gangaloor, three from Bhairamgarh, eight from Awapalli, eight from Usur, and four from Tarrem. The security forces also recovered IEDs, cookers, tiffin bombs, detonators, safety fuses, wires, batteries, digging tools, banners, posters and pamphlets. During interrogation, the arrested Maoists confessed that they were planning to plant IEDs to target the security forces. They have been remanded.

16 Maoists surrendered in Narayanpur last Wednesday. They are cadres from various units including Janata Sarkar, Chetna Natya Mandali and Panchayat Militia.

A Maoist who had a bounty of Rs 8 lakh announced by the government was killed by security forces in an encounter in Kankar, Chhattisgarh on Tuesday. The person killed was Masa, a commander of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) of the CPI (Maoist). Another Maoist was killed in an encounter in Gudabeda on the same day. So far this year, 241 Maoists have been killed by security forces in Chhattisgarh.