Continuing with its crackdown on Maoists, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has arrested Nand Kishore Yadav, a wanted guerrilla from Jharkhand. Yadav had received a gunshot injury during an encounter on April 3.

Five Maoists were killed in a joint operation by CRPF’s specialised commando unit CoBRA and Jharkhand police.

“One INSAS rifle along with 15 rounds were also recovered from his possession,” a CRPF spokesperson said.

As part of a joint strategy of police in Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and central forces, more operations are being undertaken to eliminate the Maoist leadership. More camps have been set up in forward areas and a dossier has also been updated about the central committee members of CPI (Maoist) who have been providing direction and strategy to the cadres.

The Centre has prepared a dossier with names and details of the Maoist leadership. The top 5 people named in it are:

1. Nambala Keshava Rao, Central Committee Member, from Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh

2. Muppala Laxmana Rao, Central Committee Member, from Karimnagar, Telangana

3. Mallojula Venugopal, Central Committee Member, from Karimnagar, Telangana

4. Thippari Tirupathi, Central Committee Member, from Karimnagar, Telangana

5. Katakam Sudershan, Central Committee Member, from Adilabad, Telangana

The list, officials said, has been updated after a number of Maoists either surrendered or died due to Covid or related illnesses. While most of the five mentioned have been on the most wanted list for some years, many like Katakam Sudershan have moved their way up from the top 10 most wanted to the top 5. Interestingly Hidma, the alleged Naxal who had struck terror in the hearts of Sukma, Bijapur, and Dantewada, does not find mention in the list.

All five central committee members are from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and not a single tribal person is part of the top decision-making body of Maoists, as per the list prepared by central forces.

Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraj, the general secretary of CPI (Maoist) and an IED expert, carries a bounty of Rs 1 crore.

Ganpathi or Muppala Laxmana Rao is number 2 on the list, even though it was believed for some time that he had handed over the baton to Keshava Rao. In 2020, Telangana police had expected a surrender from Ganpathi but he gave the forces a slip, as per officials. “He may be old and ill but he is very much on our list,” an official who has served in the Naxal zone told News18.

Mallojula Venugopal or Abhay is believed to be a spokesperson for CPI (Maoist). A politburo and central military commission member, Abhay, as per agencies, succeeded Azad in the role. Also called Bhupati by the Maoist cadre, Venugopal is the brother of Kishenji, the Maoist leader who was gunned down in West Bengal.

The National Investigation Agency has announced a Rs 10 lakh bounty on Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji. Central agencies suspect Tirupathi to be one of the masterminds of the April 2010 Maoist attack in Dantewada that killed 74 CRPF jawans.

Katakkam Sudershan or Birenderji is also suspected to be the brains behind that massacre.

Central forces and local police believed that a spate of surrenders, deaths due to illnesses, an ageing central leadership, and operations by police and paramilitary have sounded the death knell for CPI (Maoist). “In Bihar and Jharkhand they are over…not as integrated with the Bastar units. 16 Naxals with a bounty of Rs 5 lakh surrendered last month in Chhattisgarh. They are on the back foot,” an officer said.

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