Illustration for representation. (© India Sentinels 2025–26)
Ranchi/New Delhi: Three high-ranking Maoist commanders, including one with a ₹1 crore bounty, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district on Monday. This is seen as a significant blow to left-wing insurgency in eastern India.
The gunfight erupted at 6am in the dense Pantitri forest under Gorhar police station when a joint team of Central Reserve Police Force’s 209 CoBRA battalion and police from Hazaribagh and Giridih districts launched a cordon-and-search operation based on intelligence inputs.
The most significant casualty was Sahdev Soren, also known as Parvesh and Anuj, who carried the highest bounty of ₹1 crore on his head. A “central committee” member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), Soren had been evading capture since escaping from a prison van in November 2012.
The other two killed were Raghunath Hembram alias Chanchal, a Bihar-Jharkhand CPI-M “special area committee” member with a ₹25 lakh bounty, and Birsen Ganjhu alias Ramkhelawan, a “zonal committee” member carrying a ₹10 lakh reward.
Two CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) personnel – Ajay Bhautic from Assam and Subrato Biswas from West Bengal – sustained injuries during the operation but are reported to be stable.
Sahdev Soren had some very high-profile cases against him. (File photo/Handout)
Long insurgency legacy
Soren, originally from Mandari village in Hazaribagh, had been active in the Maoist movement since the early 1990s. His operations spanned Bokaro, Hazaribagh and Giridih districts in Jharkhand, and Jamui, Munger, Lakhisarai and Banka districts in Bihar.
The veteran Naxalite was linked to several high-profile attacks, including the January 2005 landmine blasts in Bihar’s Munger district that killed the-then superintendent of police of the district, KC Surendra Babu and four other policemen. He was also connected to two major massacres – the September 2005 Bhelwaghati village killings where 16 people died, and the October 2007 Chilkari village massacre that claimed 20 lives, including the son of former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi.
Hembram, a Giridih resident active since 1993, was wanted in 58 criminal cases, while Ganjhu faced charges in 36 cases.
Security forces recovered three AK-47 assault rifles and 63 live cartridges from the encounter site. The sophisticated weaponry highlights the firepower that Maoist groups continue to maintain despite sustained pressure from security agencies and severe depletion in their ranks.
Following the operation, the Union home minister, Amit Shah, declared that Naxalism has been “completely eradicated” from Jharkhand’s Bokaro region and expressed confidence that “the entire country will be free from the problem of Naxalism” soon. It may be noted that Shah had vowed to eradicate left-wing insurgency from India by March 2026.
Counterinsurgency progress
The Hazaribagh encounter is part of an intensified campaign against Maoist insurgency. According to official data, Jharkhand security forces have killed 20 hardcore Naxalites this year, with the 209 CoBRA battalion leading operations. Forces have also recovered 32 automatic weapons, 345 kilograms of explosives, 88 detonators and 2,500 rounds of ammunition in 2025.
Between January and June, Jharkhand police killed 17 Maoists and arrested 197 cadres, including several high-ranking leaders, such as Vivek alias Prayag Manjhi – another central committee member with a ₹1 crore bounty killed in April.
The CoBRA units, established specifically to counter the Naxalite movement, have conducted 37,470 operations since 2009, resulting in 470 insurgent deaths and 3,461 apprehensions. However, 74 CoBRA personnel have been killed in these operations.
Declining movement
The Naxalite insurgency, also called the Maoist insurgency, which began in West Bengal’s Naxalbari village in 1967, once controlled nearly a third of India with an estimated 15,000–20,000 fighters at its peak in the mid-2000s. The movement has claimed over 12,000 lives, including insurgents, security forces, and civilians.
Recent data shows a continued decline in violence. Jharkhand recorded 26 fatalities in left-wing extremism-related incidents in 2024, down from 33 in 2023. The systematic targeting of leadership has accelerated the insurgency’s weakening, with several central committee members eliminated this year across different states, as India Sentinels had been reporting. This includes the elimination of top Maoist leader “Basavaraju” Nambala Keshav Rao in May.
As mentioned earlier, the Centre has set a target of March 2026 to completely eliminate left-wing extremism from India. The elimination of commanders like Soren, who security experts considered among the two most vital components of the Maoist movement in Jharkhand’s Parasnath region alongside the previously killed Manjhi, suggests progress toward this ambitious timeline.
The operation represents not just a tactical victory but potentially a strategic turning point in India’s longest-running internal security challenge, as the systematic dismantling of the Maoist hierarchy continues to erode what was once the country’s most serious insurgent threat.
