Major Victory In Odisha: Security Forces Gun Down 6 Naxals Including ₹1.1 Crore Bounty Chief Ganesh Uike
Bhubaneswar: In a major success for security forces, six Naxals, including top commander Ganesh Uike, were killed in two separate encounters in Odisha’s Kandhamal district on Thursday. Uike, a central committee member and the head of Maoist operations in Odisha, had a bounty of ₹1.1 crore on his head.
The first encounter took place on Wednesday night in the Gumma forest under Belghar police station limits, where two Naxals were shot dead. A second gunfight broke out on Thursday morning in a forest under Chakapad police station, in which Uike and three other Naxals were eliminated.
Detailing the operation, Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) Yogesh Bahadur Khurania said a major joint anti-Naxal campaign was underway along the Ganjam district border. “This morning, Odisha Police and security forces achieved a major success by eliminating four Naxals, including Ganesh Uike, a central committee member who headed all Maoist operations in Odisha,” he told reporters.
“The security forces have neutralised him today, and I believe this has broken the backbone of Maoist terror in Odisha and will significantly change the Naxal situation in the state,” Khurania added. He said Uike was a key leader of the banned CPI (Maoist) central committee, and that the identities of the other Naxals killed, including two women, were yet to be confirmed.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah described the development as a “significant milestone towards a Naxal-free Bharat.” “In a major operation in Kandhamal, Odisha, six Naxalites, including central committee member Ganesh Uike, have been neutralised so far. With this major breakthrough, Odisha stands at the threshold of becoming completely free from Naxalism. We are resolved to eliminate Naxalism before 31 March 2026,” he said.
The latest operation follows the killing of top Naxal commander Madvi Hidma last month in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitharamaraju district, where five other Naxals were also gunned down by security forces. Hidma was believed to have led around 26 armed attacks on security personnel and civilians over the past 15 years and is suspected to have masterminded the 2010 Dantewada attack that killed 76 CRPF personnel, as well as the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack in which at least 27 people, including senior Congress leaders, lost their lives.
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During a three-day visit to Raipur in Chhattisgarh in August last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had reiterated that the Narendra Modi government aimed to wipe out Naxalism from the entire country by March 2026. As part of intensified anti-Naxal operations earlier this April, security forces also took control of Karegutta Hill.