Top Maoist leader Azad gunned down in Andhra Pradesh

In a major blow to CPI(Maoist), the party’s top leader and spokesman Azad was gunned down by police in a four-hour encounter in the forests of Jogapur in Andhra Pradesh.

A member of the CPI(Maoist) politburo, Azad was next to top leader Ganapati in the party hierarchy.

Sources said security forces combing the forest were shot at by a group of Maoists late on Thursday and they retaliated.

After about four hours of gun battle, police recovered the bodies of two Maoists in civvies. Sources said but for a 30-year-old photograph, police did not have anything to establish Azad’s identity and took help of former Maoists.

An AK-47 and several other weapons were recovered from the site. Police said about 20 Maoists participated in the gun battle.

Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad hailed from Krishna district of Andhra. He did his MTech from the regional engineering college in Warangal before joining a radical students union three decades ago.

He soon became an active member of the then People’s War Group (PWG) and went underground. He is believed to have played a key role in transforming PWG into CPI (Maoist).

Azad was an accused in several killings and carried a reward of Rs12 lakh. He was in a mood to declare ceasefire and initiate talks.

The other leader killed in the encounter is believed to be Chandranna, the party’s north Telangana in-charge.