Basava Raju, also known as Nambala Kesava Rao, was a top Naxal commander and the General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist). He was reportedly killed in a massive anti-Naxal operation in the forests along the Narayanpur-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. This operation, one of the largest in recent years, resulted in the elimination of over 34 Naxalites by security forces. Basava Raju carried a bounty of ₹1 crore (or ₹1.5 crore, according to some sources) on his head, marking him as one of India's most wanted insurgents.
A veteran of the Maoist movement since the 1970s, Basava Raju was a B.Tech graduate from the Regional Engineering College in Warangal (now the National Institute of Technology). He hailed from Jiyannapeta village in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. Over the years, he operated under various aliases, including Ganganna, Prakash, Krishna, Vijay, Darapu Narasimha Reddy, and Narasimha. He left his hometown in the late 1970s and had no known property in his name there.
Basava Raju's primary areas of operation were reported to be Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and parts of Maharashtra. He played a crucial role in the formation of the Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist People's War (CPIMLPW) in Andhra Pradesh in 1980. By 2018, he had risen to become the General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist), succeeding Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathy. His appointment signaled a tactical shift within the Maoist ranks, with an emphasis on a more aggressive approach.
Intelligence Bureau officials described Basava Raju as an aggressive cadre and a key strategist, specializing in the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). He was responsible for training numerous cadres in IED usage. As the head of the Central Military Commission (CMC), he planned and directed guerrilla activities and was in charge of strategizing, as well as sourcing arms and ammunition. He also oversaw sub-committees like the Zonal Military Committee and Special Area Military Committee.
Basava Raju was allegedly involved in several significant attacks, including the 2003 Alipiri attack near Tirupati, which targeted the convoy of then-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Naidu escaped with injuries due to his bulletproof vehicle. He was also accused of planning and executing deadly attacks on political leaders, such as the killings of former TDP MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and ex-MLA Siveri Soma in Andhra Pradesh. Some reports suggest that in 1987, Basavaraju, along with other senior Maoist leaders, received training in ambush tactics and explosives from former Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the forests of Abujhmad, Bastar.
His death is considered a major setback for the Maoist movement, particularly in central India, potentially creating a significant leadership vacuum within the CPI (Maoist) and disrupting their operations in the region.
