Maoist Balkrishna, Involved in Killing of Former AP Home Minister, Slain in Encounter
Three top Maoist leaders including CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju were killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh in the last nine months.
Raipur: Maoists’ Central Committee Member (CCM) Modem Balkrishna, slain in the recent Gariaband encounter in Chhattisgarh, was involved in the killing of former Andhra Pradesh home minister Alimineti Madhava Reddy and ex-DIG of the southern state K S Vyas, police said on Saturday.
Balkrishna who had several Maoist names like Manoj and Bhaskar was among ten Naxals, who were killed in an encounter with security forces on the forested Matala Hills under Mainpur police station in Gariaband district on Thursday.
The slain Naxal who hails from Warangal in Telangana was allegedly involved in killing of former home minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh Mr. Reddy and former DIG of the undivided AP Mr. Vyas, Chhattisgarh additional director general of police (Naxal operation) Vivekanand Sinha told the media late on Friday.
Mr. Reddy was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast triggered by the Maoists on March seven, 2000.
Mr. Vyas, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of 1974 batch, was shot dead when he was jogging in a stadium in Hyderabad on January 27, 1993.
He was credited for the formation of the Greyhounds, the elite anti-Naxal wing of Andhra Pradesh police.
Balkrsihna was the Odisha State Committee secretary of Maoists at the time of his death.
The slain Maoist leader, said to be a ruthless military strategist in the outlawed CPI (Maoist), had proved to be unlucky in the sixth encounter he had with the security forces in Gariaband district on Thursday.
He had escaped unhurt in the last five encounters he had with the security forces in the area in the last two years.
In fact, another top Maoist cadre, Chalpathi, also a CCM, was killed in an encounter with the security forces on Matala Hills in January this year.
Balkrishan was present along with Chalpathi during the encounter but he could escape unhurt at that time, police said.
Three top Maoist leaders including CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju were killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh in the last nine months.
“This is a big achievement for the security forces in Chhattisgarh”, Mr. Sinha said.
