A top Maoist commander, carrying a reward of ₹1 crore, was killed along with two other senior rebels in an encounter with security forces in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district on Monday morning. The slain commander has been identified as Sahdeo Soren, a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and was one of the most wanted Maoist leaders in eastern India.

The joint operation was carried out by the CoBRA battalion, Giridih Police, and Hazaribagh Police based on specific intelligence inputs. The gunfight broke out around 6 am in Karandi village under Tatijharia police station limits, near the Giridih–Bokaro border.

Two other Maoist leaders were also killed in the encounter: Raghunath Hembram alias Chanchal, a Bihar–Jharkhand Special Area Committee member with a ₹25 lakh reward, and Birsen Ganjhu alias Ramkhelawan, a zonal committee member carrying a ₹10 lakh bounty. Security forces recovered the bodies of the three insurgents after the encounter, and a search operation is underway in the forested region.

In a statement, Jharkhand Police said that Sahdeo Soren, a Central Committee Member of CPI(Maoist) carrying ₹1 Crore on his head, and two other Naxals were killed in an encounter with a joint team of CoBRA battalion, Giridih and Hazaribagh Police this morning in village Karandi, PS Tatijharia, district Hazaribagh based on intelligence inputs. Hembram and Ganjhu carried a reward of ₹25 lakh and ₹10 lakh, respectively.

Prior to this incident, on Sunday, another Maoist was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand's Palamu district. The deceased was identified as Mukhdev Yadav (40), a self-styled sub-zonal commander of the banned Maoist splinter group Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC). The encounter broke out in a forest area bordering Manatu and Tarhasi in the district. The body of the red rebel, along with an INSUS rifle, a pistol and 146 live cartridges, were recovered from the spot. Yadav carried a bounty of ₹5 lakh on his head. He was allegedly involved in the murder of two security personnel in Palamu on September 4. Besides, Yadav was wanted in 27 cases in various police stations of Palamu and Chatra. The encounter took place during an ongoing operation in Palamu by security forces to trace another self-styled zonal commander of the TSPC, carrying a bounty of ₹10 lakh on his head.

Also on Saturday, a notorious Maoist Shankar Mahaka (32), carrying a ₹2 lakh bounty, was arrested in Tekameta jungle in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli. Mahaka, wanted by the NIA for a civilian's murder in 2023, was scouting for attacks on security outposts when he was nabbed by a joint team of C-60 commandos and local police. Explosives and propaganda material were seized. Gadchiroli SP Neelotpal urged insurgents to "abandon violence for a new life".

Security forces in recent years have achieved notable successes in containing the Maoist insurgency in Jharkhand.