Indian security forces have killed a senior Maoist commander along with nine other militants during a shootout, intensifying their campaign to suppress a long-running insurgency.
According to AFP, the Indian authorities are conducting a large-scale operation against the remaining strongholds of the Naxalite rebellion — a movement named after a village at the foothills of the Himalayas where a Maoist-inspired guerrilla struggle first emerged nearly six decades ago, News.Az reports.
Senior police officer Vivekananda Sinha reported that the clash broke out late Thursday evening in a forested area along the border between the states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
"Among those killed was Modem Balakrishna, who led the Maoist organization in Odisha and was known by several aliases," Sinha told AFP.
A reward of $114,000 had been offered for information leading to Balakrishna's capture.
