Click to play videoNew Delhi/Kolkata: The CRPF has denied that Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji was killed in a fake encounter, but questions have been raised given the way he was killed and absence of his own security. The hunt is on for fellow Maoists cadres, even as nine states have been put on high alert.
It was a violent end for Bengal's most wanted. After tracking him for two days, Kishenji, the number 3 man in Maoist hierarchy, was gunned down by the joint forces operating in Borishol forest in West Midnapore district of West Bengal bordering Jharkhand.
Central forces and state police claim that the gun-battle lasted for over two hours and they have recovered two loaded Ak-47 assault rifles, a bag containing Rs 80,000, two mobile phones, six SIM cards and several letters next to his bullet riddled body.
"There was an intelligence input. The operation was planned," said Gangeshwar Singh, IG, Western Range, West Bengal Police.
Search and combing operations for the missing Maoists continued on Friday. The police claimed they have recovered a bag containing belongings of Suchitra Mahato, Kishenji's close aide who is believed to be injured in Thursday's gun battle. The bag contained an external hard disk, memory chips and several incriminating documents.
Despite the day-long combing operations in the forest, no more bodies were recovered and no injured Maoists were found. The CRPF called this a clean operation, but doubts were raised as Kishenji was found dead alone without the men who always protected him.
"I am surprised that Kishenji did not have his usual ring of security around him," said CRPF DG K Vijayakumar.
Following Thursday's fierce gun battle, the Borishol forest has now gone quiet, the battle cry now rages elsewhere with Kishenji's family deciding to move court alleging that the Maoist leader was killed in a fake encounter.
A CID team from Kolkata has started its probe into Kishenji's killing, while the formal process of identifying the body is still on. Maoist ideologue and poet Varavara Rao has arrived in Kolkata along with Kishenji's niece Deepa to claim his body.
"It was a fake encounter. Day-before-yesterday (Wednesday) itself he was intercepted, surrounded and taken into custody, and was tortured," said Varavara Rao.
Analysts believe that the biggest success of the security forces in its anti-Maoist operations in Bengal, will come at a price. The peace talks offered by state government might be completely off the table for a long time.
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