Woman Maoist commander with 45L bounty shot dead in Bastar

Raipur: A woman Maoist commander, who was described as one of the most influential leaders of the outfit and carried a bounty of Rs 45 lakh, was gunned down in an encounter on the border of insurgency-hit Dantewada and Bijapur districts in Bastar division on Monday.

Police identified her as Gummadiveli Renuka aka Bhanu who also went by the aliases ‘Chaité', Saraswati and Damyanti, and was a Maoist for nearly 30 years. She was the sister of another infamous name in the Maoist organization — Gudsa Usendi, who had surrendered 11 years ago.

Renuka was a well-educated, hard-core Naxalite who handled the outfit's media wing and headed the Central Regional Bureau (CRB) press team. She was also editor of Prabhat Patrika as Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee Member (DKSZCM). Her brother, Gudsa aka Gumudavelli Venkatakrishna Prasad was also spokesperson of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee when he gave up arms.

According to police records, she had a law degree and was a native of Warangal in Telangana. She was married to central committee member Shankamuri Apparao aka Ravi, who was killed in the 2010 Nallamalla encounter in Andhra Pradesh.

Renuka is the third top commander to be eliminated in less than a week after Kuhdami Jagdeesh alias Budhra was shot dead on March 29 and Sudheer alias Sudhakar was killed on March 25.

A joint force of Dantewada District Reserve Guards (DRG) and Bastar Fighters set out on the operation in the wee hours following intelligence reports about the movement of a top-ranking Maoist in a forest on the banks of river Indravati, said police. "The gunfight started at 9am and lasted around two hours. When forces searched the area, they found the body of a woman Maoist," said Dantewada SP Gaurav Rai, who led the operation.

"The encounter took place in the dense forests and hilly terrain between the villages of Nelgoda, Ikeli and Belnar (around 400km south of Raipur), near the Dantewada-Bijapur border. The forces eliminated a high-profile woman Naxalite, who had a combined reward of Rs 45 lakh — Rs 25 lakh in Chhattisgarh and Rs 20 lakh in Telangana," said Bastar range IG P Sundarraj.

Senior police officer said Renuka was an "influential figure" in the Maoist hierarchy with a significant role in the dissemination of Naxal propaganda through various publications such as ‘Prabhat', ‘Mahila Margam', ‘Awami Jang' and ‘People's March'. She had joined the Naxal outfit in 1996 and was associated with prominent Naxal commanders throughout her career, including south zonal committee member Krishna Anna and central committee member Dula Dada alias Anand. She became a Dandakaranya zonal committee member in 2020.

Security forces seized an Insas rifle, ammunition, a laptop, Naxal literature and daily use items from the site of the encounter. IG Sundarraj praised the efforts of security forces in eliminating the Maoist threat in the region and reiterated the govt's commitment to maintain peace and security in Bastar and surrounding areas. He urged Maoists to shun violence and join the mainstream. "Naxals have no option but to surrender and abandon their illegal activities if they wish to avoid further consequences," he warned.

The Maoist toll has risen to 135 this year.