Security forces killed Maoist organization CPI (Maoist) general secretary and most notorious Nambala Keshav Rao alias Busvaraju in the dense forests of Abujhmad Tirahe of Narayanpur-Bijapur-Dantewada districts of Chhattisgarh. It is considered a historical success in the anti -Naxal campaign. A total of 27 Naxalites have been killed in this campaign ended on Wednesday. The most important name in this is Basavaraju, which has been the strategist of the most dangerous Naxal network for the last four decades.
The Chhattisgarh government had declared a reward of one crore rupees on Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra have also announced separate awards on this. They were counted among the select Naxal leaders who were included in both the Polit Bureau and the Central Committee. He was considered a Naxalite leader who was never caught due to his three -tier security system and network in the forest. But this time the security forces killed him.
Basavaraju was born in Gianapetta village in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. He from B.Tech from Engineering College, Warangal. Did. But after studying he picked up the gun. In the 1970s, he joined the Naxalite movement and started working with various pseudo -names like Prakash, Krishna, Vijay, Umesh and Kamalu. He was initially a ground worker, but soon became proficient in the organization’s strategy and weapon training. In 1992, he was made a member of the Central Committee of People’s War Group.
At that time Ganapati used to be the general secretary of this group. Basavaraju received training in guerrilla warfare from leaders like Ganapati and Sitaramaiah. He gradually mastered dealing with military strategy, IDs and landmine. In 2018, Basavaraju was appointed as General Secretary of CPI (Maoist). He replaced Ganapati, who resigned due to age and illness. But Basavaraju’s weakness was that he had no experience of running the organization politically.
Basavaraju’s death is like breaking the backbone of Naxal network
Therefore, security experts believe that the Maoist movement during their tenure weakened strategically. However, he was responsible for military operations and planned several major attacks in Bastar. Security expert and professor Dr. Girishkant Pandey says, “Basavaraju was a military strategist but there was a lack of political thinking. The Maoist movement under his leadership lost its direction. That is why the Maoist movement lost its direction. His death is like breaking the backbone of the Maoist network.”
Large Naxalite attacks during Basavaraju’s tenure …
Alipiri Bomb blast in 2003:- Attempted to assassinate the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu. Dantewada massacre in 2010:- 76 CRPF personnel were killed in this attack. 2013 Jeram Valley Attack:- 27 people including senior Congress leaders were killed. 2019 Shyamgiri attack:- Five people including BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi. Minapa Ambush in 2020:- 17 security personnel were martyred in Naxalite attack in Sukma. Tekalgudem attack in 2021:- The biggest Naxalite attack of that year in Bijapur, in which 22 soldiers were martyred.
Security forces succeeded in breaking the security cordon
Security forces had received intelligence that the central committee of the organization, including Basavaraju and several members of the Polit Bureau, were camping at Narayanpur-Beijapur-Dantewada Tirahe in Abujamar. After this, District Reserve Guard, STF and other units of four districts Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada and Kondagaon conducted a joint operation. A large forest area was siege in this campaign, which lasted for 70 hours. There was heavy firing during the encounter. Security forces managed to break the security cordon of Basavaraju.
Basavaraju’s death shock for Naxalites
Basavaraju was killed in this campaign. A DRG jawan was killed in this campaign, while some others were injured. A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and electronic materials were recovered. His death caused a major setback to the CPI (Maoist). According to security experts, there is no veteran leader left in the organization who is 40 to 50 years old and has leadership capacity. The current leadership is either old or inexperienced. This leads to the fear of the Naxalite network disintegrating.
