Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the killing of Maoist commander Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju in an encounter on Wednesday a remarkable success, saying that he was proud of the security forces for it.
Basavaraju, the general secretary of CPI (Maoist ), was killed by the security forces in Wednesday’s encounter in Abujhmad forest in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region.
“Proud of our forces for this remarkable success. Our Government is committed to eliminating the menace of Maoism and ensuring a life of peace and progress for our people,” PM Modi said in a post on X.
Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, police said, was among the 27 Maoists killed in a gun battle with security forces. The 71-year-old was appointed the new general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2018
A veteran of the Maoist movement since the 1970s, Basavaraju was among the most elusive Maoist leaders in the country and had a reward of ₹1.5 crore on his head.
A native of Jiyannapeta village in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, Basavaraju was a BTech graduate from the Regional Engineering College in Warangal. Over the years, he used multiple aliases, including Ganganna, Prakash, Krishna, Vijay, Darapu Narasimha Reddy, and Narasimha.
Amit Shah calls Basavaraju the ‘backbone’ of the Maoist movement
Earlier, union home minister Amit Shah confirmed the death of Basavaraju, calling him the ‘backbone’ of the Maoist movement.
“A landmark achievement in the battle to eliminate Naxalism. Today, in an operation in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, our security forces have neutralized 27 dreaded Maoists, including Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, the general secretary of CPI-Maoist, topmost leader, and the backbone of the Naxal movement,” Shah wrote on X.
“This is the first time in three decades of Bharat’s battle against Naxalism that a general secretary-ranked leader has been neutralized by our forces. I applaud our brave security forces and agencies for this major breakthrough,” he wrote.