Top Maoist leader Ganesh Uike carrying Rs 1.1 crore bounty, three others killed in encounter in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: In a major anti-Naxal operation, a joint team of Odisha Police and central paramilitary forces killed four Maoists, including top CPI (Maoist) leader Ganesh Uike, during an encounter in Kandhamal district’s Chakapada police limits on Thursday.Uike, 69, a central committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist) and the head of its Odisha operations, carried a reward of over Rs 1.1 crore for his role in several deadly attacks across eastern and central India. His death is expected to weaken the Maoist network in the region.The encounter took place in the Rambha forest range along the Kandhamal–Ganjam border under Chakapada police limits. The operation involved 20 units of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Odisha Police, two battalions of the CRPF, and a team from the BSF.The operation began early in the morning and saw multiple exchanges of fire between Maoist and the security forces across the area, ADG (Anti-Naxal Operations), Odisha Sanjeeb Panda said.After the operation, the security forces confirmed that four Maoists had been neutralised, two of them women, all in uniform. Only Uike was identified.Originally from Pullemala village of Chendur Mandal in Nalgonda district of Telangana, Uike was one of the most wanted Maoist leaders in India and headed the outfit in Odisha.Such was Uike’s role in the LWE surge that he carried a Rs 40 lakh reward by Chhattisgarh, Rs 25 lakh each by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, besides Rs 1.1 crore in Odisha. His death will further weaken the Naxal movement in the region where he led the Maoist operations for several years.



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