Tumalpad Encounter: Maoists Involved in Deadly Bus Blast Killed Among 12

Sukma: At least 12 armed Maoists, including 5 women, were killed in the Nilam Tumalpad encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma.

Among the dead were senior Maoist leaders from the Kota–Kistaram area committee. Officials said both leaders, along with their squad, were involved in multiple serious crimes, including the murder of innocent villagers.

These Maoists were collectively carrying bounties amounting to Rs 60 lakh. The officials also revealed that they have recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition, including automatic rifles such as AK-47s, INSAS rifles, and SLRs, from the encounter site. 

Further, they stated that the Maoists killed in the encounter were also directly involved in the June 9, 2025, bus explosion at Tetra under the Kota police station area. In that attack, Additional Superintendent of Police Akanksha Yadav Giripunje was martyred.

Top Maoist Leader Barse Deva Surrenders Before Telangana Police

On Saturday (January 3), PLGA Battalion Commander Badse Sukka, also known as Deva (DK SZCM) Sukka, who had previously replaced Madvi Hidma, surrendered to the police alongside 19 other cadres.

According to reports, the surrendered cadres also turned over several PLGA "arms dumps", including those previously managed by Hidma and Badse Deva.

In total, 48 weapons were surrendered, including 2 LMGs, 1 US-made Colt rifle, 1 Israel-made Tavor rifle, 8 AK-47 rifles, 10 INSAS rifles, 8 SLR rifles, 4 BGLs, 11 single-shot weapons, 2 grenades, 1 air gun, and 2,206 rounds of assorted ammunition.

Police officials claim that these high-profile surrenders ahead of the government's deadline emphasise the total collapse of the CPI (Maoist) PLGA wing. Reportedly, only 17 underground cadres who are natives of Telangana now remain.

14 Maoists killed in Encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma & Bijapur

Earlier this month, at least 14 Maoists were also gunned down in separate encounters by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma and Bijapur districts on Saturday, marking the first encounter between Maoists and the security forces this year.

In Bijapur district, two Maoists were killed during an ongoing anti-Naxal operation in the southern forested belt. Acting on intelligence inputs about the presence of armed Maoists, a search operation was launched by a team of the DRG in the South Bastar region. According to police officials, intermittent firing between security forces and Maoists began around 5 am.

Meanwhile, in Sukma district, security forces killed a dozen Maoists in a separate encounter. Among those killed was Mangdu, the secretary of the Konta area committee, a senior Maoist leader. Automatic weapons were also recovered from the encounter site.

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