Andhra Pradesh In a significant setback to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), three senior Maoists, including a highly influential Central Committee (CC) member, were killed in a fierce exchange of fire with security forces in the Maredumilli forest area of Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Wednesday morning.
The deceased Maoists have been identified as Gajarla Ravi alias Uday, a Central Committee member and Secretary of the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC); Raavi Venkata Lakshmi Chaitanya alias Aruna, a Special Zonal Committee member and East Division Secretary; and another cadre identified as Anju.
According to police sources, the encounter took place during an intensive combing operation launched by the elite Greyhounds unit of the Andhra Pradesh Police, based on specific intelligence inputs regarding the presence of a Maoist contingent in the area. The exchange of fire reportedly lasted for about 25 minutes near Kondamodalu village in the Devipatnam forest region. Security forces recovered three AK-47 rifles and other weapons from the encounter site, indicating the presence of high-ranking cadres. No casualties or injuries were reported among the police personnel.
The elimination of Gajarla Ravi, also known by aliases Uday, Ganesh, and Birusu, marks a major blow to the Maoist movement, particularly in the Andhra-Odisha-Chhattisgarh (AOB) region. Ravi was considered one of the highest-ranking Maoist leaders and a key strategist in the AOBSZC, carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head. His involvement with the extremist movement spanned nearly four decades, and he was even a negotiator for the People’s War Group during peace talks with the then Andhra Pradesh government in 2004. He was known for his expertise in guerrilla warfare and the deployment of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Aruna, who also carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh, was the wife of the slain Central Committee member Chalapathi, who was among 14 Maoists killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh earlier this year. Aruna was a prominent figure in the Maoist women’s wing and was involved in significant acts of violence, including the killing of Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma in 2018.
The AOB region has long been a strategic corridor for Maoists, linking their presence in the Dandakaranya region of Chhattisgarh with the forests of Jharkhand. The successful operation underscores the intensified efforts by security forces to curb Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in the region. This latest success follows closely on the heels of other major anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, which have significantly weakened the banned outfit.
Combing operations are currently ongoing in the Maredumilli forests as authorities believe that several other Maoist cadres might have fled the scene after the gunfight. The bodies of the slain Maoists have been shifted to Rampachodavaram Area Hospital for post-mortem examination. Senior police officials have visited the encounter site to oversee further investigations.
The neutralization of such senior and experienced Maoist leaders is expected to severely impact the organizational structure and operational capabilities of the CPI (Maoist) in the Andhra-Odisha Border region, potentially disrupting their future strategies and recruitment efforts. The consistent pressure from security forces indicates a determined push towards a Naxal-free India.