New Delhi: CPI(Maoist), in a statement issued via its Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), blamed the death of its top leader Basavaraju on betrayal by some within its ‘core’ Naxal formations active in Maad area, including the PLGA Company No 7 tasked with his proximate security.
The statement holding “compromised elements within” accountable for the killing of Basavaraju in Narayanpur came even as the Chhattisgarh police conducted the last rites of the CPI(Maoist) general secretary and seven others on Monday in Narayanpur itself, citing the “lack of any clear legal claimant” to their bodies. Kin of of one of the eight Maoists cremated by the police — Kosi alias Hungi — themselves requested the police to handle the last rites, given the decomposed state of the body.
None of the five claimants to Basavaraju’s body attended the funeral.
TOI had exclusively reported on Monday that the Chhattisgarh police were not keen to hand over Basavaraju’s body to his kin/acquaintances for last rites in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, fearing that a public funeral would unncessarily glorify the mastermind behind the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians and security personnel.
The bodies of remaining 19 Maoists killed in the May 21 operation by DRG wing of the Chhattisgarh police were however handed over to their family members.
Interestingly, the CPI(Maoist) admitted that 28, and not 27, “comrades” were killed in the operation, while pointing out mistakes in identification of two slain Maoists by the police.
The DKSZC statement dated May 25, 2025, signed by Vikalp, blamed the “compromised” and “surrendered” leaders and cadres of of units active in Maad, for feeding the Chhattisgarh police and intelligence agencies with constant updates on Basavaraju’s movements over the past six months. “The cadres from different units in Maad area turned traitors and would share our secret messages with the police. Operations based on their leaks were conducted in January and March to get to Basavaraju. Six more surrenders over the past one and half months, including by a top cadre in Basavaraju security detail, made the job of the police easier,” it was stated.
The CPI(Maoist) press note, while corroborating how the DRG personnel cornered Basavaraju by breaching and neutralising his protection team, declared that the CPI(Maoist) general secretary was captured alive and then killed, a claim rubbished by Bastar IG P Sundarraj. “The lie is a face-saver. The statement literally certifies our precise and perfectly-timed strike, how 28 of the 35 Maoists engaged ended up neutralised, and how it were the Maoists who killed a DRG personnel in the “first round of fire” and another in an IED blast after the operation had ended,” he told TOI.
The Maoist statement conceded failure, saying: “PLGA Company No 7 had 60 persons in January, but this was cut to 35 for easier mobility. In the meantime, the senior members of the company surrendered...we expected big operations in April and May. But Basavaraju was not ready to move to a safer hideout”. Basavaraju, 74, was even quoted as telling the cadres not to worry for him as he would remain general secretary for 2-3 years at most.
Paying “tributes” to ‘B R dada’ — or Basavaraju, who faced 258 criminal cases — and the 27 other Maoists killed, the DKSZC note exhorted citizens, party members, PLGA formations and activists’ groups to organise public meetings to honour the “martyrs” and continue fighting the “fascist, Hindu govt”.
Of the 27 Maoists whose bodies were retrieved by Chhattisgarh police, 2 were from Andhra Pradesh, 3 from Telangana and the remaining from Chhattisgarh. They included one Politburo member, 1 DKSZC leader, 4 Company Party Committee members, 3 platoon party committee members and 18 PLGA members.
The Chhattisgarh police on Monday said the weapons recovered in Narayanpur operation include those looted by Naxals after the Maoist attacks at Gawadi in 2010 Burkapal in 2017, which between them had killed 51 CRPF personnel.
The statement holding “compromised elements within” accountable for the killing of Basavaraju in Narayanpur came even as the Chhattisgarh police conducted the last rites of the CPI(Maoist) general secretary and seven others on Monday in Narayanpur itself, citing the “lack of any clear legal claimant” to their bodies. Kin of of one of the eight Maoists cremated by the police — Kosi alias Hungi — themselves requested the police to handle the last rites, given the decomposed state of the body.
None of the five claimants to Basavaraju’s body attended the funeral.
TOI had exclusively reported on Monday that the Chhattisgarh police were not keen to hand over Basavaraju’s body to his kin/acquaintances for last rites in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, fearing that a public funeral would unncessarily glorify the mastermind behind the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians and security personnel.
The bodies of remaining 19 Maoists killed in the May 21 operation by DRG wing of the Chhattisgarh police were however handed over to their family members.
Interestingly, the CPI(Maoist) admitted that 28, and not 27, “comrades” were killed in the operation, while pointing out mistakes in identification of two slain Maoists by the police.
The DKSZC statement dated May 25, 2025, signed by Vikalp, blamed the “compromised” and “surrendered” leaders and cadres of of units active in Maad, for feeding the Chhattisgarh police and intelligence agencies with constant updates on Basavaraju’s movements over the past six months. “The cadres from different units in Maad area turned traitors and would share our secret messages with the police. Operations based on their leaks were conducted in January and March to get to Basavaraju. Six more surrenders over the past one and half months, including by a top cadre in Basavaraju security detail, made the job of the police easier,” it was stated.
The CPI(Maoist) press note, while corroborating how the DRG personnel cornered Basavaraju by breaching and neutralising his protection team, declared that the CPI(Maoist) general secretary was captured alive and then killed, a claim rubbished by Bastar IG P Sundarraj. “The lie is a face-saver. The statement literally certifies our precise and perfectly-timed strike, how 28 of the 35 Maoists engaged ended up neutralised, and how it were the Maoists who killed a DRG personnel in the “first round of fire” and another in an IED blast after the operation had ended,” he told TOI.
The Maoist statement conceded failure, saying: “PLGA Company No 7 had 60 persons in January, but this was cut to 35 for easier mobility. In the meantime, the senior members of the company surrendered...we expected big operations in April and May. But Basavaraju was not ready to move to a safer hideout”. Basavaraju, 74, was even quoted as telling the cadres not to worry for him as he would remain general secretary for 2-3 years at most.
Paying “tributes” to ‘B R dada’ — or Basavaraju, who faced 258 criminal cases — and the 27 other Maoists killed, the DKSZC note exhorted citizens, party members, PLGA formations and activists’ groups to organise public meetings to honour the “martyrs” and continue fighting the “fascist, Hindu govt”.
Of the 27 Maoists whose bodies were retrieved by Chhattisgarh police, 2 were from Andhra Pradesh, 3 from Telangana and the remaining from Chhattisgarh. They included one Politburo member, 1 DKSZC leader, 4 Company Party Committee members, 3 platoon party committee members and 18 PLGA members.
The Chhattisgarh police on Monday said the weapons recovered in Narayanpur operation include those looted by Naxals after the Maoist attacks at Gawadi in 2010 Burkapal in 2017, which between them had killed 51 CRPF personnel.
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