https://arab.news/chan8
- India is waging an all-out offensive against the last vestiges of the Naxalite rebellion
- More than 12,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed since 1967
RAIPUR, India: Indian security forces shot dead a top Maoist commander and nine other guerrillas in a gunbattle, an official said on Friday, as they ramp up efforts to crush the long-running conflict.
India is waging an all-out offensive against the last vestiges of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the foothills of the Himalayas where the Maoist-inspired guerrilla movement began nearly six decades ago.
More than 12,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed since a handful of villagers rose up against their feudal lords there in 1967.
The latest gunbattle took place late on Thursday along the forested border between the states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh, senior police officer Vivekanand Sinha said.
“Among those killed is Modem Balkrishna, who was in charge of the Maoist organization in Odisha and is also known by many other names,” Sinha said.
A bounty of $114,000 had been issued for Balkrishna’s capture.
Home Minister Amit Shah, who has vowed to crush the Maoist rebellion by the end of March next year, hailed the latest operation.
“The remaining Naxalites should also surrender in time,” he said in a post on social media.
The rebellion controlled nearly a third of the country with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fighters at its peak in the mid-2000s.
A crackdown by Indian troops across the “Red Corridor” has killed more than 400 rebels since last year, according to government data.
The group’s chief, Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, was gunned down in May, along with 26 other guerrillas.
The conflict has also seen several deadly attacks on government forces. A roadside bomb killed at least nine Indian troops in January.