Top Maoist Basava Raju killed in Abujhmad encounter.

Basava Raju, also known as Nambala Keshava Rao or Basavaraj, was a top Maoist leader and general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). He was killed in a major anti-Naxal operation called "Operation Black Forest" in the Abujhmad forest area of Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on May 21, 2025. At least 27 Maoists, including Raju, were killed in the operation carried out by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force of Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Kondagaon districts. The operation was based on intelligence about a senior Maoist leader hiding in the area.

Key figure in Maoist movement: Raju was a member of the politburo and became the Supreme Commander of the CPI (Maoist) after Ganapathy resigned in 2018. He is believed to have plotted several high-profile attacks and was the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) most wanted Maoist with a bounty of over Rs 1 crore on his head. Known as an explosives expert, Raju played a key role in preparing the deadly improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used to ambush security forces. He was the main planner of the October 1, 2003 attack on then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Dantewada attack (2010): He played a key role in the attack in which 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed, one of the deadliest Maoist attacks on security forces. Gadchiroli attack: Raju was the mastermind of the attack in which 15 C-60 commandos were killed in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. Dantewada attack on BJP MLA: He was involved in the attack in which BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi and four security personnel were killed in Dantewada. Training by LTTE: Reports suggest that Raju was trained by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which led to him gaining expertise in guerrilla warfare and explosives. Details of Abujhmad encounter operation: Security forces recovered the bodies of 26-27 Maoists, including Raju. The operation comes after another major anti-Naxal operation in October 2024, in which 31 Maoists were killed in Abujhmad. Role of Abujhmad: 6,000 sq km Government target: The Government of India aims to end the Maoist insurgency by March 31, 2026 and such operations are part of that strategy.