Encounter in Gariyaband: Security forces kill 10 Maoists, including central committee member

By Harsh Thakor*

Ten Maoists, including Manoj alias Modem Balakrishna, a central committee member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Gariyaband district on September 11, 2025. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Manoj carried a bounty of ₹1 crore.

Gariyaband Superintendent of Police Nikhil Rakhecha confirmed Manoj’s death and said an anti-Maoist operation was launched in the district. By 7.20 p.m. on Thursday, ten bodies had been recovered, and search operations were continuing. The operation was conducted jointly by the Special Task Force (STF), E-30 of the Gariyaband Police, and the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) of the Central Reserve Police Force.

According to police sources, Manoj, believed to be about 65 years old, had been active in the Maoist movement since 1983 and held several key positions, including central committee member and in-charge of the CPI (Maoist)’s western bureau under the Odisha State Committee. He was known by aliases such as Balanna, Ramachander, and Bhaskar. He had earlier been arrested in undivided Andhra Pradesh in the 1980s.

The central committee is the highest decision-making body of the CPI (Maoist). With this operation, six central committee members of the outfit have been killed by security forces in 2025 across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh. Those killed earlier include Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, the former general secretary, in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur in May, and Chalpathi alias Jairam in Gariyaband in January.

In 2025 so far, at least 241 alleged Maoist cadres have been killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh, 212 of them in Bastar division and 27 in Gariyaband district.

Balakrishna, originally from Madikonda in Warangal district, lived for a period in Sultanpura, Chaderghat, Hyderabad. He studied at Government High School, Sultan Bazar, and later at Malakpet Junior College, pursuing a vocational course between 1981 and 1983. During this period, he came into contact with the Radical Students Union (RSU) and subsequently joined the Maoist movement.

He became a full-time cadre in 1983 and was arrested multiple times during his career. He was first arrested at Bhadrachalam bus stand in 1984 and jailed in Warangal Central Jail until 1986. Later, he was again detained in Mahaboobnagar in 1987 and released in 1990 in a prisoner exchange following the kidnap of a TDP MLA.

After resuming underground activities, he held various positions, including Secretary of the Mahaboobnagar District Committee, member of the South Telangana Regional Committee, and later Secretary of the Odisha State Organizing Committee. He also contributed to party ideological documents and was among those who challenged the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) in court in the 1990s.

New CPI (Maoist) Leadership

Following the killing of Basavaraju in May, the CPI (Maoist) appointed Thippiri Tirupati alias Devji, aged 60, as its new general secretary. Another leader, Mandvi Hidma, has been made secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee.

Devji, from Jagitial district of Telangana, has been associated with the Maoist movement since the early 1980s through the Radical Students Union. Rising through the ranks, he became a central committee and politburo member, with a role in military operations and recruitment. He has been linked to several major attacks, including the 2010 Dantewada ambush that killed 74 CRPF personnel.

With the appointment of Devji, the CPI (Maoist) continues the pattern of leadership from undivided Andhra Pradesh, a region that has historically produced several key figures for the organisation since its formation in 2004 through the merger of CPI (ML) People’s War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India.

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