India, May 24 -- At around 7am on Wednesday, a sentry of the CPI (Maoist) stumbled upon a jawan of the DRG force in the dense forests of Abujmad leading to an intense gun battle which culminated in the killing of the senior most CPI (Maoist) leader Nambala Keshav Rao or Basavaraju.

The details of the operation emerged days after the key victory for the security forces.

A senior official of Bastar said that for over three months, the Narayanpur Police's anti-Naxal wing had been meticulously piecing together a puzzle of senior Maoist leader hidden deep in the jungles of Abujhmad.

Abujhmad till 2023 was considered as a safe haven for senior Maoist leaders because of difficult terrain and dense forest.

They began by tracing surrendered Ma...