Bhubaneswar/IBNS, Dec. 25 -- India's long-running Maoist insurgency appears to be entering its terminal phase following the killing of Ganesh Uikey, a senior Central Committee member and the top leader of the outlawed movement in Odisha.

Security officials say Uikey's death has left Devuji, an ageing ideological figure, as the only remaining leader of comparable rank-underscoring how sharply the once-formidable insurgent hierarchy has thinned.

Uikey was eliminated in a major counterinsurgency operation in Kandhamal district, delivering another decisive blow to Maoist leadership after the earlier neutralisation of notorious commander Madvi Hidma.

With successive eliminations at the apex, security agencies increasingly view the movement ...