Rapur, September 28 (IANS) In a major success for security forces, the top Maoist commander Shravan Madam, aka Vishwanath alias Budhram Punim, was killed in an encounter between Maoists and police forces in Tyarpani forests of Kankar district of Chhattisgarh.
The operation, which began on Sunday, is being jointly operated by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Border Security Force (BSF) personnel.
Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elisela confirmed Shravan’s death, who served as Secretary of Satanadi-Rewas Coordination Kshetra Committee.
He was accompanied by two other Maoist-Rajesh alias Rakesh Hemla, Commander of Nagari Area/Gobra Los, and Basanti Kunjam alias Hidmen PM, who was a member of the Menpur-Nupada Coordination Protection Team.
The encounter is close to the Dhamtari-Odisha border, in the hill forest area near Chindkarak village below the Kankar police station area.
A subsequent search operation led to recovery of the bodies of two men and a female Maoist, as well as a cash of arms including a SLR, A.303 rifle, a 12-bore rifle and other Maoist materials.
The three deceased Maoists gave a joint reward of Rs 14 lakh. Shravan alone received a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head, followed by Rs 5 lakh for Rajesh and Rs 1 lakh for Basanti.
Alisella said that the joint team started the operation based on the intelligence input about the Maoists’ movement in the central forest area Kankar.
The encounter is still going on, the security forces have continued their comb operations in the dense forest area.
This is a significant shock for Maoist operation in the development area, especially with the elimination of hearing, a high-ranked person in the Sitanadi Area Committee.
Officials believe that the operation will disrupt the coordination between the Maoist groups working with the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border. Security has been tightened in the surrounding districts, and further reinforcement has been deployed to ensure the complete area sanitation.
The police have reiterated their commitment to end the Maoist influence and restore peace in the affected areas.
,
SKTR/PGH