The Union Home Ministry stated that one of the 16 Naxalites killed on Monday night and Tuesday morning was carrying a Rs 1 crore bounty.
The Naxal leader was identified as Chalapati aka Jayaram Reddy. He and 19 other Maoists were eliminated in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh.
Who was Chalapati?
Chalapati, 60, hailed from Chittoor's Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh. He was a Central Committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist).
Since he was part of the key panel making decisions about sensitive operations, he had a bounty of Rs 1 crore. He also enjoyed protection of several personal guards.
Another mighty blow to Naxalism. Our security forces achieved major success towards building a Naxal-free Bharat. The CRPF, SoG Odisha, and Chhattisgarh Police neutralised 14 Naxalites in a joint operation along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. With our resolve for a Naxal-free…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 21, 2025
The operation comes after the forces received information on Maoist presence in the Kularighat reserve forest bordering Odisha's Nuapada district and Chhattisgarh's Gariabandh district.
The encounter was carried out by a joint team of personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force, Chhattisgarh's CoBRA commandos, Odisha's Special Operation Group and the District Reserve Guard. A CoBRA personnel was was wounded in the gunfire.
Two of the Maoists killed on Monday were women. The identities of the remaining Maoists were yet to be ascertained. A large cache of weapons, including self-loading guns, ammunition and IED bombs, were recovered from the site.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the operation was major success, saying it was a step towards a "Naxal-free India".
At least 40 Maoists have been killed so far in 2025. On January 16, at least 18 red rebels were killed in Bijapur district.
Around 220 Maoists were killed in Chhattisgarh in 2024 among whom a majority are from the Bastar region.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said that under the double-engine government, the state will eliminated left-extremism by March 2026.
