Maoist carrying Rs 1 crore reward, his 2 associates killed in Jharkhand enounter

A Maoist carrying Rs 1 crore bounty on his head, along with two others, was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district on Monday morning.

The encounter broke out in the Pantitri forest area under the Gorhar police station around 6 am between the squad of Sahadev Soren of the banned CPI (Maoist) and troops of CRPF's 209 CoBRA battalion and Jharkhand Police, security officials said.

The body of Soren, a central committee member of CPI (Maoist), who carried a bounty of Rs 1 crore, was recovered along with that of two other Maoists.

The bodies of Raghunath Hembram, a special area committee member, who carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakh, and Virsen Ganjhu, a zonal committee member carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh, were also recovered.

Three AK-47 rifles were seized, while no injury to the troops was reported. Search operations were under way when the reports last came in.

In 2025, the troops of the CoBRA battalion have achieved remarkable success in anti-Naxal operations, neutralising 20 hardcore Naxals.

The troops have also recovered 32 sophisticated automatic weapons, 345 kg of explosives, 88 detonators, 2,500 live ammunitions, and a large quantity of war-like stores.