Maoist leader gunned down in Bastar jungle

Maoist leader Vikalpa, alias Kailash, who carried a bounty of `16 lakh on his head, was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in a jungle in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar division late Sunday night.

This was the first time a Maoist leader, identified as a high-value target by the security forces, was neutralised in Bastar.

Vikalpa, allegedly involved in over two dozen major Maoist operations against the security forces including the April 24 Burkapal ambush in which 25 CRPF jawans were massacred in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, was killed following an encounter between armed rebels and a joint team of District Reserve Group and Special Task Force personnel near Mutanpal Patelpara village inside Burgum forest in Bastar district in the late hours of Sunday, the Bastar police said.

He was secretary of Barsur area committee and also member of East Bastar Divisional committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), according to Bastar district SP Arif H. Sheikh.

The slain Naxal leader had fled to Barsur after participating in the Burkapal ambush.

“We had specific intelligence inputs on his presence in Burgum jungle and accordingly launched a search operation in the area to nab him,” an official said.

The counter-insurgency strategy revisited in the wake of Burkapal Naxal attack has set its sights on high-value targets in the Maoist cadre in Bastar division.