Prime Maoist Chief Ganesh Uikey Amongst Six Killed in Odisha Anti-Naxal Operation

A prime Maoist commander carrying a bounty of Rs 1.1 crore rupees was killed in a joint anti-Naxal operation in Odisha, officers stated on Thursday, in what the federal government described as a significant blow to the banned rebel group.

Ganesh Uikey, a Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist) and the outfit’s chief in Odisha, was killed throughout an encounter within the Rampa forest space alongside the jungle belt bordering Ganjam and Kandhamal districts. The operation was carried out by the Odisha Particular Operations Group together with the Central Reserve Police Power and Border Safety Power.

Safety forces recovered the our bodies of 4 Maoists, together with two ladies, from the encounter website. The operation was being repeatedly monitored by Odisha Police Deputy Inspector Normal (Operations) Akhileshwar Singh, officers added.

Union House Minister Amit Shah stated six Naxalites, together with Uikey, had been “neutralised to date” within the ongoing operation in Kandhamal forests, calling it a significant breakthrough.

“In a significant operation in Kandhmal, Odisha, 6 Naxalites, together with Central Committee Member Ganesh Uike, have been neutralised to date,” Shah wrote in a put up on X. “With this main breakthrough, Odisha stands on the threshold of changing into fully free from Naxalism. We’re resolved to eradicate Naxalism earlier than the thirty first of March 2026.”

Police described Uikey as a senior and battle-hardened chief who had been lively for greater than a decade within the Odisha-Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra hall. He was concerned in armed squad operations, recruitment and the motion of cadres throughout dense forest zones, officers stated.

Uikey, 69, was identified by a number of aliases, together with Pakka Hanumantu, Rajesh Tiwari, Chamru and Rupa. He was a local of Pullemala village underneath Chendur mandal in Telangana’s Nalgonda district.

Safety forces stated combing operations had been persevering with within the space to make sure no remaining insurgents had been current.

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