As many as 30 naxals, including top Naxal leader Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavraj, who carried a bounty of Rs. 1 crore, have been killed in an encounter with the security forces in Chhattisgarh, as per sources.
Notably, Basavraj was also the general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). The top Naxal leader, who has been part of the Naxalite movement since the 1970s and was being hunted by security agencies across the country, was neutralised by District Reserve Guard (DRG) forces, sources added.
A major anti-naxal operation was earlier underway in the forested Abujhmad region of Narayanpur district, where an encounter broke out between Naxals and DRG jawans, a police official said.
Maoist leader Basavaraj is killed in an encounter today with 26 other Naxalis. He was the Mastermind of Gadchiroli attack that killed 15 C-Commandos. He was also involved in Dantewada naxal attack where BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi and four security personnel were killed
A huge victory… pic.twitter.com/bXo2cB5lyG
— Hindutva Knight (@HPhobiaWatch) May 21, 2025
The operation, which began on Wednesday morning in the forested Abujhmad area, involved DRG personnel from Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada districts. Security forces reportedly surrounded top Naxal leaders in the exchange.
Naxalites opened fire when District Reserve Guard teams from four districts launched an operation in the area based on intelligence inputs about the presence of senior cadres from the Maoists’ Mad division, the official said.
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