Senior Maoist leader Sudhakar killed in encounter in Bijapur forests
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Bijapur, Chhattisgarh: Security forces killed senior Maoist leader Sudhakar in the forests of Bijapur, Chhattisgarh on Thursday, The News Minute reported.
The 67-year-old, also known as Narsimhachalam or Goutham, was a member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)’s Central Committee.
His death comes close to two weeks after the party’s general secretary Basavaraju was killed in Chhattisgarh on May 21.
The Union government’s crackdown on Maoist in Chhattisgarh left several of the group’s members killed in recent months.
The crackdown comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that ‘ Nexalism’would be eliminated before March 31, 2026.
Sundarraj Pattilingam, Inspector General (IG) of Bastar Range, confirmed Sudhakar’s death in the National Park area of Bijapur on June 5.
Born in Andhra Pradesh in Chintalapudi, currently under Eluru district, Sudhakar joined the Maoist movement around 1985, according to Eenadu.
He is known to have been heading the Maoist party’s tech team of the Maoist party alongside its Regional Political School, set up to train new cadres.
In 2024, Sudhakar participated in the peace talks with YS Rajasekhara Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government in Hyderabad.
Sudhar was reportedly killed in the joint anti-Maoist operation carried out by the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) on June 5.
The Bastar police claimed that the dead bodies of 186 Maoist cadres have been recovered so far in 2025 in the Baster Range.