Maoist top gun Kishenji killed in West Bengal

In what is being seen as a big victory for security forces and a huge setback for Maoists, top leader Molajula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji on Thursday killed in an encounter with security forces at Burishol village in Junglemahal area of West Bengal.

Kishenji, the dreaded military head of the Maoists, was killed in a joint operation by central forces and West Bengal Police in Kushboni forest in West Midnapore district on Thursday evening.

"There was an information coming for last two days that there is a movement of Maoist squad, probably led by Kishenji and Suchitra Mahato, with intention to launch an attack on joint forces. The joint forces, on receiving this information, organised operations for last two days," said Naparajit Mukherjee, DG, West Bengal Police.

Kishenji, a Maoist politburo member, was the third in-command of the outfit. It was from Kushboni forest on the border of Jharkhand that Kishenji had been operating since 2009. Kishenji's body was identified by the AK-47 rifle he was carrying.

"Most likely it is Kishenji. The officers on the spot said that it is Kishenji and most likely...99 per cent it is Kishenji," said Union Home Secretary RK Singh.

The CRPF has confirmed that Kishenji was killed in a gunbattle with security forces in the Junglemahal area of West Bengal.

Kishenji was believed to lead 22,000 armed Maoist insurgents. He and his cadres had succeeded to cut of the Junglemahal area in Bengal from the state administration for nearly 18 months since 2009. But with Kishenji's death, the Maoists have suffered a body-blow that security agencies believe, will cripple their organisational capabilities in not just Bengal, but in neighbouring Jharkhand and Orissa as well.