Jharkhand: Maoist leader with ₹10 lakh bounty killed in encounter
What's the story
A senior Maoist leader, Pappu Lohara, was killed by security forces in the Latehar district of Jharkhand on Saturday.
The encounter comes just days after the death of top Maoist leader Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur.
Lohara, who carried a bounty of ₹10 lakh on his head, was the chief of the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad—a splinter group of Maoists.
Leadership loss
Basavaraju's death marks significant blow to Maoist leadership
Basavaraju, who was killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district, was a former Central Military Commission chief and General Secretary of the Maoist outfit.
He carried a bounty of ₹1.5 crore and was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and police forces in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
His death came after a gunfight that lasted over 50 hours along the Narayanpur-Bijapur border.
Government response
Union Home Minister hails encounters as major achievement
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has hailed the recent encounters as a "landmark achievement in the battle to eliminate Naxalism."
He said it was the first time in three decades that a general secretary-ranked leader had been neutralized by Indian forces.
Since "Operation Black Forest" concluded, 54 Maoists have been arrested and 84 surrendered across Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.