Maoist with Rs 8 lakh bounty on his head found dead in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada

The body of Deva alias Tirri Madkami was found in the Jiakorta forest near Bhusaras valley under Kuakonda police station limits, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said. Madkami was wanted in nine Maoist-related incidents and carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head, he added.

Dantewada (Chhattisgarh): A Maoist carrying bounty of Rs 8 lakh on his head was found dead under mysterious circumstances with a firearm of 12 bore next to him in a forest of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district on Tuesday, police said. The body of Deva alias Tirri Madkami was found in the Jiakorta forest near Bhusaras valley under Kuakonda police station, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said. Madkami was wanted in nine Maoist-related incidents and carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head, he added. A weapon, a bag and a water bottle were recovered near the body, he said. Madkami was a member of the Katekalyan Area Committee of (Maoist), which has been instrumental in executing several major attacks. However, the organisation has been witnessing infighting and recruitment crises for several months, the IG said.

The police received information in the morning that a body of an unknown person was lying in Jiakorta forest along the border of the Dantewada-Sukma district, around 400 km away from Raipur, he said. A joint team of the CRPF’s 230th battalion and police reached the spot and the deceased was later identified as Madkami, he said.

The exact cause of death will be known once the post-mortem report was submitted. Prima facie, the police suspect that infighting within the Maoist group or anti-people activities of Madkami may have resulted in his death, said the Dantewada, SP, Siddharth Tiwari. The police were probing all possible angles, he added (With agency inputs)