Raipur: Jayram alias Chalapathi, a Naxal commander, who was carrying Rs 1 crore bounty on his head, was among the 16 ultras killed in a fierce exchange of fire in Gariaband district in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday. The encounter began on Monday and is still on.
Earlier, Gariaband SP Nikhil Rakhecha had confirmed that 14 Naxals were killed in a joint operation by Chhattisgarh’s District Reserve Guards, CRPF, CoBRA, and Odisha’s Special Operation Group (SOG). The toll rose to 16 Naxals in the afternoon, said Amresh Mishra, Raipur Range Inspector General of Police.
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Tuesday 21 Jan. 2025
“This is one of the biggest encounters in the country as a Central Committee (CC) member of the banned Naxals organization, Jayram alias Chalapathi, has been killed. Usually central committee members either die a natural death or rarely get arrested. Killing a CC member in an encounter is a big achievement,” the police officer said. There were weapons including AK 47, SLR, INSAS and other automatic weapons recovered from the site of encounter.
Pratap Reddy Ramachandra Reddy alias Appa Rao alias Jayram alias Ramu alias Chalapathi, aged around 60 years, was a native of Matempa Palli in Chintur, Andhra Pradesh. Apart from being a Central Committee member, he was the Odisha state committee in charge and carried an AK-47. He main work area was in Marh region of Chhattisgarh, said police.
Just two days ago, CPI(Maoist) Telangana state committee secretary Bade Chokka Rao alias Damodar was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.
“The Gariaband encounter has been going on for more than 36 hours. On Monday, security forces had recovered two bodies of women Naxalites,” the SP said. According to a police statement, 12 more Naxals were killed on Tuesday morning and a large quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from the site of the encounter. Police suspect the toll will rise as intermittent gunfights are on.
A CoBRA commando was injured in the gunfight on Monday and has been flown to Raipur for treatment.
Forces from Chhattisgarh and Odisha launched the operation on the night of Jan 19, based on specific inputs about the presence of a large group of Maoists in Kulharighat reserve forest of Gariaband, around 5km from neighbouring Odisha’s Nuapada and 125km from Raipur.
As many as 40 Maoists have been gunned down in Chhattisgarh in the first three weeks of the year.
Resolving for a Naxals-free India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah posted on his X handle, “Another mighty blow to Naxalism. Our security forces achieved major success towards building a Naxal-free Bharat. The CRPF, SoG Odisha, and Chhattisgarh police neutralised 16 Naxals in a joint operation along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. With our resolve for a Naxal-free India and the joint efforts of our security forces, Naxalism is breathing its last today.”
