Bhubaneswar, Odisha, Dec 25 — Senior CPI (Maoist) leader Ganesh Uike, who carried a bounty of Rs 1.1 crore, was among six Maoists killed in separate gunfights with security forces during a major anti-Naxal operation in Odisha’s Kandhamal district, police said Thursday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah termed the operation a “major breakthrough,” while Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the action marked a decisive step toward making Odisha free of Left-wing extremism.
Uike, 69, was a central committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist) and headed the outfit’s operations in Odisha, said Sanjeeb Panda, an additional director general of police overseeing anti-Naxal operations.
“Four Maoists were killed in the gunfight today. One of them was Ganesh Uike, also known by aliases Pakka Hanumantu, Rajesh Tiwari, Chamru and Rupa,” Panda told reporters. “He was a native of Nalgonda district in Telangana.”
Two other Maoists — identified as area committee member Bari alias Rakesh and dalam member Amrit, both from Chhattisgarh — were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in the Gumma forest area on Wednesday night. They carried a combined bounty of Rs 23.65 lakh, police said.
Fresh encounters broke out Thursday morning in forested areas under the Chakapad police station limits, where four Maoists, including Uike, were killed. The identities of three others — including two women — are yet to be confirmed.
In a post on X, Shah said, “In a major operation in Kandhamal, Odisha, six Naxalites, including Central Committee Member Ganesh Uike, have been neutralised so far. We are resolved to eliminate Naxalism before March 31, 2026.”
Director General of Police YB Khurania said the operation involved 23 teams comprising personnel from the Odisha Police’s Special Operations Group, the CRPF and the BSF.
“This is one of the biggest operations against Maoists in recent times,” Khurania said. “The killing of a central committee member has broken the backbone of Maoist leadership in the state.”
Police said two INSAS rifles and one .303 rifle were seized, and no casualties were reported on the security forces’ side. Operations were continuing along the Kandhamal-Ganjam inter-district border, officials added.
