Indian security forces have killed a senior Maoist leader, Modem Balkrishna, along with nine other guerrillas in a fierce gunbattle, marking another significant blow to the decades-long Naxalite insurgency.
The clash erupted late Thursday in dense forest along the Odisha Chhattisgarh border, senior police officer Vivekanand Sinha confirmed. Balkrishna, who led Maoist operations in Odisha and was known by several aliases, carried a bounty of $114,000 for his capture.
Home Minister Amit Shah, who has pledged to eliminate the Maoist rebellion by March next year, praised the operation and urged remaining fighters to surrender.
The Naxalite movement, which began in 1967 in a Himalayan foothill village, once controlled nearly a third of India with an estimated 15,000-20,000 fighters at its peak in the mid-2000s. More than 12,000 rebels, security personnel, and civilians have been killed over the course of the conflict.
Government data shows that intensified operations across the so-called “Red Corridor” have resulted in the deaths of over 400 rebels since last year. In May, the group’s chief, Nambala Keshav Rao also known as Basavaraju was killed alongside 26 other guerrillas.
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