Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently announced a significant victory for India’s security forces against Naxalite insurgents. In a post on X, he stated that two Central Committee Member Naxal leaders, Katta Ramchandra Reddy and Kadri Satyanarayan, were eliminated in an encounter in the Abujhmad region of Narayanpur, near the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border.
Amit Shah has repeatedly emphasized his commitment to eradicating Naxalism from the country by March 31 next year. The deceased leaders were identified as Raju Dada (also known as Katta Ramachandra Reddy, aged 63) and Kosa Dada (also known as Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy, aged 67), according to PTI reports.
Both men were Central Committee members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and had been actively involved in insurgency operations for more than three decades. The encounter took place in the forests of Abhujmaad, close to the Maharashtra border, when security forces launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs about the movement of high-ranking Maoist cadres.
After hours of intermittent gunfire, the bodies of the two leaders were recovered, along with an AK-47 rifle, INSAS rifle, barrel grenade launcher, explosives, Maoist literature, and other items.
Originating from Karimnagar in Telangana, both men were long-standing operatives of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, which oversees Maoist activities in the Bastar region. They were reportedly involved in several deadly attacks targeting both civilians and security personnel.
Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P highlighted that this success reflects the continued pressure being applied on the banned Maoist group. He also urged the remaining insurgents to surrender and reintegrate into society by taking advantage of the government’s rehabilitation policy.
With this latest operation, a total of 249 Naxalites have been killed in Chhattisgarh this year, including 220 in the Bastar division alone.
Earlier, on September 11, ten Naxalites, including another Central Committee Member of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), Modem Balakrishna, were killed in an encounter in the state’s Gariaband district.
This recent development marks another step forward in the ongoing efforts to curb Naxal violence and restore peace in affected regions.