Top Maoist leader Ganesh Uike among 6 killed in Odisha’s Kandhamal

Top Maoist leader Ganesh Uike, a central committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist), was among six rebels killed in separate gun battles with security forces in Odisha’s Kandhamal district, police said on Thursday.

Uike, who carried a reward of Rs 1.1 crore, was the chief of the Maoist outfit in Odisha, a senior officer overseeing anti-Naxal operations said.

According to police, two Maoists from Chhattisgarh were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in the Gumma forest under Belghar police station limits on Wednesday night. Fresh encounters broke out on Thursday morning in a forest area under Chakapad police station, where four more Maoists, including Uike, were killed.

“Four Maoists were killed in the gunfight. One of them has been identified as 69-year-old Ganesh Uike, also known by the aliases Pakka Hanumantu, Rajesh Tiwari, Chamru and Rupa. He was a native of Pullemala village in Telangana’s Nalgonda district,” the officer said.

The identities of the other three Maoists killed on Thursday, including two women, are yet to be ascertained, he added.

Addressing a press conference, Director General of Police (DGP) Y.B. Khurania said the operation marked a major breakthrough.

“Two Maoists were gunned down on Wednesday and four were neutralised this morning. The killing of a central committee member is a big success for Odisha Police and has broken the backbone of Maoists in the state,” Khurania said.

He said operations were continuing along the Kandhamal–Ganjam inter-district boundary, adding that police hoped for further success. “This is one of the biggest operations against Maoists in Odisha in recent times. We are determined to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s target of eliminating Naxalism by March 2026,” he said.

The operation was launched based on intelligence inputs and involved 23 teams, including personnel from Odisha Police’s Special Operations Group, the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and the BSF (Border Security Force).

Police said multiple gunfights took place in different forest locations on Thursday, after which the bodies of four Maoists were recovered. The security forces also seized:

• Two INSAS rifles

• One .303 rifle

The two Maoists killed on Wednesday night were identified as Bari alias Rakesh, an area committee member of CPI (Maoist), and Amrit, a dalam member, both from Chhattisgarh. They carried a combined bounty of Rs 23.65 lakh, a senior officer said.

The encounters came a day after 22 Maoists surrendered before the DGP in neighbouring Malkangiri district on Tuesday, police added.

With inputs from PTI