Thu Sep 11 16:36:38 UTC 2025: **Headline: Top Maoist Leader Killed in Chhattisgarh Encounter, Government Vows to Eradicate “Red Terror”**

**Raipur, September 11, 2025** – In a major victory for Indian security forces, ten Maoists, including a high-ranking leader, were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Gariyaband district on Thursday. Among the deceased was Manoj, also known as Modem Balakrishna, a central committee member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and a veteran insurgent with a ₹1 crore bounty on his head.

According to Gariyaband Superintendent of Police Nikhil Rakhecha, the operation involved personnel from the Special Task Force (STF), E-30 unit of the Gariyaband Police, and the elite CoBRA battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force. The operation was launched based on intelligence leading to the encounter. As of 7:20 PM on Thursday, ten bodies had been recovered, and search operations were ongoing.

Manoj’s history within the Naxal movement dates back to 1983, when he abandoned his studies in Hyderabad and joined the insurgency in the Bhadrachalam forests. He used various aliases, including Balanna, Ramachander, and Bhaskar, and held key positions within the CPI (Maoist), including being in-charge of the party’s western bureau of the Odisha State Committee (OSC). He had been arrested twice in the past, once in 1987 and again in 1993, and was once exchanged for a kidnapped politician.

Manoj’s death is a significant blow to the CPI (Maoist), as the Central Committee is its highest decision-making body. This is the sixth central committee member killed by security forces this year, including the former general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, who was killed in May. These losses are part of a larger trend, with at least 241 Naxalites killed in Chhattisgarh this year alone.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the operation as a major success in a post on X. He urged remaining Naxalites to surrender, vowing to achieve complete eradication of “red terror” by March 31, 2026.

Read More