Death of top Maoist leader in Gariaband encounter, a shot in arm for Odisha police

Death of Modem Balakrishna, central committee member of CPI (Maoist) in encounter with security forces in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday (September 11, 2025) has come a shot in arm for Odisha police which is now looking to make the State free from Maoist influence by March 2026.

“Balakrishna had been a central committee member for over a decade. He was also secretary of State Committee of CPI (Maoist). Being the tallest leader among cadres of CPI (Maoist), he used to have final say on every strategy of expanding left wing extremism in the State,” said Sanjeeb Panda, Additional Director General (Operations) of Odisha Police.

“Obviously, his death is a blow to naxal movement in Odisha although we have had little activities of Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) on ground compared to early 2000 and 2010. However, we are watchful of not giving any opportunities for revival of violence activities by CPI (Maoist) in the State,” said Mr. Panda.

Pramod, another key leader in Odisha State Committee, was also killed in the Gariaband encounter.

Balakrishna, who hailed from Warangal district in Telangana, was involved many audacious attack on security forces and establishments including bauxite mines of National Aluminium Company, situated at 4500 ft above sea level, in 2009. He was lately active in the CPI (Maoist) division comprising Dhamtari, Gariaband and Nuapada (DGN). While Dhamtari and Gariapand are in Chhattisgarh, Nuapada is in Odisha.

The other three divisions facinf LWE in Odisha are - KKBN (Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Boudh and Nayagarh), BGN (Basadhara-Ghumusar-Nagavali Division) that covers southern Odisha district and Balangir in western Odisha.

In the DGN division, cadres often cross over to Chhattisgarh and Odisha through dense forest, used as a corridor, depending on the degree of threat from security forces.

The southern Odisha districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada (all have shared border with Chhattisgarh) have been largely peaceful due to consistent area domination by Odisha police and para-military forces such as Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force.

“We have recorded CPI (Maoist) activities in region whose central axis is Kandhamal district that shares border with Boudh, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Rayagada and Kalahand districts in Odisha. Bordering areas are densely forested. It becomes easier for LWEs to sneak into any districts when faced with heat from security forces,” said Mr. Panda.

According to minutes of weekly meeting held in June this year, Odisha police had found traces of movements of Balakrishna in Kandhamal, Boudh, Kalahandi and Rayagada areas. Intelligence inputs suggested 60 to 70 members of CPI (Maoist) were roaming around in these districts. “For past three months, we have been focusing on KKBN and BGN divisions of CPI (Maoist),” said a senior police officer.

Security forces were asked to keep a tab on movements of two other top cadres – Nikhil and Suresh along borders of Chhattisgarh. Odisha’s Nuapada district, which shares border with Chhattisgarh, was asked to give emphasis on intelligence inputs and police officials who had been working forward posts for long should be given priority during deployment as intelligence inputs were likely to reach them quicker than new ones.

Of late, instances of violence and robbery of explosives were reported from Sundargarh district, adjacent to Jharkhand borders. “Since security forces in Jharkhand were mounting pressure on CPI (Maoist) in their jurisdiction, they stray into our Sundargarh district and perpetrate violence. LWEs don’t have mass base in Sundargarh. Nevertheless, we are increasing our deployments and strengthening security infrastructure in Sundargarh district,” said Mr. Panda.

Odisha once had 21 out of 30 districts under influence of CPI (Maoist). Concerted efforts of Odisha police and central police force helped bring down the activities of the banned outfits to 10 and the number has now come down to seven.  However, Odisha police and central police forces continued to have their special combative units deployed in remote locations to nullify chances of LWEs revival.