Top Maoist Leader Uday Killed in Maredumilli Encounter

Visakhapatnam | Desk: In a major success for anti-Naxal operations, the elite Greyhounds force claimed to have killed senior Maoist leader Gajarla Ravi, also known as Uday, during an encounter in the early hours of Wednesday in the Maredumilli forests of Alluri Sitarama Raju district, Andhra Pradesh. 

Uday was a Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist), and police consider his death a significant achievement.

Gajarla Ravi was among the Maoist leaders who, while part of the People's War Group, participated in peace talks with the state government in 2004–05 during the tenure of then-Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Along with Ravi, Aruna, also known as Venkata Chaitanya or Ravi Chaitanya, the wife of slain Politburo member Appa Rao alias Chalapathi, was also killed. Aruna was a member of the Andhra Pradesh Zonal Committee.

Another Maoist, Anju, was also killed in the encounter.

Police claim that security forces spotted a group of 16 Maoists near Kintukuru village, located between Maredumilli and Rampachodavaram.

After an exchange of fire lasting about 25 minutes, three bodies were recovered and identified as Uday, Aruna, and Anju.

AK-47 rifles and other weapons were reportedly recovered from the site. Combing operations are ongoing in the area.