BHUBANESWAR DEC 25 :Senior Maoist commander Ganesh Uike, a central committee member of CPI (Maoist) carrying a bounty of Rs 1.1 crore, was killed along with three other Naxals in a major anti-Naxal operation in Odisha’s Kandhamal district on Thursday. The 69-year-old Uike, who headed the banned outfit’s operations in Odisha, was gunned down by joint security forces in what marks one of the most significant operations against Maoists in recent years.
The encounter took place in the Rambha forest area under Chakapad police station limits in Kandhamal district, near the Ganjam district border, following specific intelligence inputs from the Special Intelligence Wing (SIW). A massive joint operation involving 23 teams—comprising 20 Special Operations Group (SOG) units of Odisha Police, two CRPF teams, and one BSF team—was launched in the early morning hours of December 25. The exchange of fire began around 9 am when security forces encountered an armed Maoist squad in the dense forest.
Security forces recovered the bodies of four Maoists—two men and two women—all dressed in uniforms. Besides Uike, whose identity has been confirmed, three other cadres were killed, though their identities are still being verified. Two INSAS rifles, one .303 rifle, a revolver, and communication devices were seized from the encounter site. No injuries were reported among security personnel.
Ganesh Uike, also known by aliases Rupa, Chamu, and Pakka Hanumantu, hailed from Nalgonda district in Telangana. A college dropout who joined the Maoist movement at a young age, he was a member of the Central Committee, Central Regional Bureau, and the only member of the Southern Regional Bureau of CPI (Maoist). He never interacted with his family in Pullemla village, Chandur mandal, after joining the insurgency.
This operation brings the total number of Maoists killed in Kandhamal to six in just two days, following Wednesday’s encounter in which two cadres, including area committee member Bari alias Rakesh, were gunned down. Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the operation as a “significant milestone towards Naxal-free Bharat,” noting that Odisha now stands at the threshold of becoming completely free from left-wing extremism. The operation comes shortly after 22 Maoists from Chhattisgarh surrendered in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, signaling a major setback for the insurgent movement in the region.
