Raipur: A senior Maoist leader in the rank of area committee member (ACM) has been shot dead in a fratricidal killing in insurgency-hit Bastar in Chhattisgarh, police intelligence has revealed.
Body of Bijja Madkam, ACM of Rajnandgaon-Kanker Border Division (RKBD) of outlawed CPI (Maoist), was recovered in the Malampeta forest under Partapur area in Kanker district in north Bastar on September six, Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj said on Monday.
Police intelligence has tipped off that the killing of the Maoist leader was the fallout of an ongoing cold war between the local Naxal cadres led by the slain ultra and RKBD secretary Vijay Reddy, a native of Telangana, sources said.
Two ACMs in the division, Raju Madkam and his wife Raje Madkam, first voiced protest against the style of functioning of the RKBD chief, leading to a virtual revolt against him by his cadres, the intelligence inputs have suggested.
Bijja’s killing was seen in the security circle as part of the strategy by the local Maoist leadership to put down the brewing rebellion in the division, sources said.
This was the third incident of fratricidal killing in Maoist cadres in Bastar in the last four years.
On October two, 2020, a divisional committee member (DVCM) of Gangalur area committee of Maoists, Vijja Modiayam, was shot dead in a fratricidal killing following his dispute with his chief Dinesh, sources said.
On August 13, 2024, ACM Manish Kursam was killed by Naxals in Bijapur district accusing him of spying for police, sources said.
He was working as a member of the Naxal communication team functioning under the Pamed area committee of Maoists.
