Nagpur, May 22 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said Naxalism is counting its last days with the killing of Communist Party of India (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju in an encounter in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.In one of the biggest strikes on Naxalites, security forces gunned down Basavaraju and 26 other cadres, including 12 women, during a fierce encounter in the forest of Abhujmad along Bijapur-Narayanpur inter-district border in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.
Known by the aliases of Gaganna, BR Dada and Prakash,Krishna, Darapu Narsingh Reddy, Basavaraju joined the outlawed movement in the 1970s.
A resident of Jiyannapeta village in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, the top Maoist leader holds a B.Tech degree from then Regional Engineering College, Warangal.
Basavaraju took over as the general secretary of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist) in 2018 replacing Muppala Lakshmana Rao alias Ganpathy, then aged 71, who stepped down due to deteriorating health and age-related issues.
As per Chhattisgarh police, Basavaraju carried a reward of Rs 1 crore declared by state government. He also carried a reward of Rs 1 crore declared by the Union Home Ministry, Rs 50 lakh by the National Investigation Agency, Rs 25 lakh each by Andhra Pradesh and Odisha governments.
It is estimated that he carried a total bounty of Rs 10 crore in all LWE affected states in the country. PTI CLS BNM
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.