Topmost Naxal leader Basavaraju among 27 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh encounter
Narayanpur (Chhattisgarh), May 21 (PTI): In a significant breakthrough in the ongoing fight against Naxalism, security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region have killed Nambala Keshav Rao, widely known as Basavaraju, along with 26 other dreaded Maoists in a fierce encounter.
Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Basavaraju was considered the top leader and ideological backbone of the Naxal movement. His death marks a pivotal success in anti-Naxal operations.
In his early 70s, Basavaraju held a B.Tech degree and was known for orchestrating numerous deadly attacks on security forces. He carried a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head in Chhattisgarh alone.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the security forces for their "remarkable success," while Union Home Minister Amit Shah called it a "landmark achievement" in the campaign to eradicate Naxalism.
The encounter began on Wednesday, two days after the launch of a coordinated anti-Maoist operation in the dense forests of Abhujmad—located at the tri-junction of Narayanpur, Bijapur, and Dantewada districts.
The operation was initiated based on intelligence inputs about the presence of top leaders from the CPI (Maoist) Central Committee, Politburo, and senior cadres of the Maad Division and the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA).
Security forces recovered 27 bodies and a significant cache of arms from the site. One jawan from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), part of the Chhattisgarh Police, was martyred in the operation, while a few others were injured.
Reacting to the development, the Prime Minister wrote on social media: "Proud of our forces for this remarkable success. Our Government is committed to eliminating the menace of Maoism and ensuring a life of peace and progress for our people."
Home Minister Amit Shah emphasised the operation's importance, highlighting that it marked the first time in three decades that a Maoist leader of General Secretary rank had been neutralised.
"A landmark achievement in the battle to eliminate Naxalism. Today, in an operation in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, our security forces have neutralised 27 dreaded Maoists, including Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju," the home minister said.
Shah praised the bravery of security forces and further noted that since the completion of Operation Black Forest, 54 Naxalites have been arrested and 84 others have surrendered across Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
He reiterated the government's goal to eliminate Naxalism by March 31, 2026.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai also praised the forces.
"Jari hai vijay ka sankhnad, khatm ho raha naxalwad' (the victory cry continues, Naxalism is ending). Under the leadership of the successful Prime Minister Narendra Modi, security forces have been moving ahead rapidly to fulfil the resolve of Home Minister Amit Shah to end Naxalism in the country by March 2026, and continuously achieving success," he said.
Despite facing difficult geographical conditions and many other challenges, this decisive campaign against LWE is being carried out with full commitment and determination by the DRG unit of Chhattisgarh Police, he said while expressing condolences over the death of a DRG jawan.
Deputy CM Vijay Sharma, who also holds Home portfolio, wrote on X, "Our security forces have killed 27 dreaded Maoists, including CPI-Maoist General Secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias 'Basavaraju', during an operation in Narayanpur".
"With the strong determination of the Home Minister Amit Shah ji, our brave security forces have killed a Naxalite of General Secretary rank for the first time in 30 years. 'General Secretary' is the highest post among the Naxalites.
"All this is the result of the valour of our brave soldiers, many congratulations to them. Certainly, we will free the entire country, including Bastar, from Naxalism by March 2026," Sharma said.
Basavaraju, a native of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, had been a key figure in the Naxal movement since the 1970s.
He rose to the top leadership of CPI (Maoist) about seven years ago, around the time of a noticeable decline in Naxalite activity in Bastar. He was wanted in numerous major attacks against security forces in Chhattisgarh.
An alumnus of the country's one of premier technical institutes, the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, Basavaraju was known for his military expertise, particularly in training and explosives. He was recognised by various aliases, including Prakash, Krishna, Vijay, Umesh, and Kamlu.
Security agencies have speculated Basavaraju's age to be around 71, with only older photographs available for identification.
He carried a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head, announced by the Chhattisgarh government, with additional bounties announced in other states, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Telangana.
With this latest operation, a total of 200 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh this year, with 183 of those fatalities occurring in the Bastar division encompassing Bijapur, Narayanpur, Dantewada, and Kondagaon.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
