Shillong, Jan 21: A significant blow to Left-Wing Extremism was dealt on Monday night as security forces killed senior Maoist leader Jayaram Reddy, alias Chalapati, along with 13 other Maoists, in an intense encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district near the Odisha border.
Chalapati, a 60-year-old member of the Maoist Central Committee, carried a bounty of ₹1 crore.
The joint operation, conducted in the dense Kularighat reserve forest five kilometers from Odisha’s Nuapada district, involved Chhattisgarh’s District Reserve Guard (DRG), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the elite CoBRA unit, and Odisha’s Special Operations Group (SOG). Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the operation as a “major success” against Maoist insurgency.
Hailing from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, Chalapati was a key strategist within the Maoist leadership. Known for his familiarity with the Bastar forests and tactical acumen, he played a central role in the group’s operations. His wife, Aruna, also a Maoist leader with a ₹5 lakh bounty, had been a close associate in his efforts.
For decades, security forces had struggled to identify Chalapati due to a lack of clear photographs. A breakthrough came in 2016 when a selfie of Chalapati and Aruna was retrieved from a deceased Maoist’s laptop, giving authorities crucial intelligence for tracking him down.
In recent months, Chalapati had relocated to the Gariaband-Odisha border, viewing it as a safer base amid escalating security operations in Abujhmad. He was accompanied by a personal security detail of 8-10 armed cadres, reflecting his importance within the Maoist hierarchy.
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