CPI (maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju who was killed by security forces on May 21, 2025.
Hyderabad: The family members of the Maoists from the two Telugu states killed in the encounter with the security forces in Abujhmad forest in Chhattisgarh on May 21, are yet to receive the mortal remains of the deceased.
In a statement to the media on Monday, May 26, civil rights activists of the coordination committee for peace stated that despite the assurances given by the advocate general of Chhattisgarh before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on May 24, 2025, that post-mortem would be completed and the bodies will be handed over to families, the remains continue to be withheld.
“This prolonged delay is causing immense anguish to bereaved families who have travelled long distances to claim the bodies of their loved ones,” the statement read.
One of the killed Maoists was Burra Rakesh alias Vivek from Warangal, whose family members have been waiting since five days, without the mortal remains being handed over to them.
The civil liberties committee leaders V Chittibabu and Ch Chandrasekhar have written to AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and home minister Anitha on Sunday, May 25, alleging that Srikakulam district SP Maheshwar Reddy has been creating obstacles in bringing back the body of slain top Maoist Nambala Keshav Rao to his native village.
They stated that Keshav Rao’s brother had gone to Chhattisgarh to bring back the former’s body, but the SP asked him to return, and confined the family members to house-arrest. It was only after the relatives of Keshav Rao approached the court, that the SP has been exerting pressure on them to perform the last rites in Chhattisgarh itself.
The bodies of Pannada Vijayalakshmi alias Bhoomika (38), a native of Vemulanarva village in Keshampeta mandal in Rangareddy district, and Gonegandla Lalitha alias Sangeetha (45), a native of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, are also lying in the Narayanpur district hospital’s mortuary.
Bhoomika’s parents Sailu Goud and Saraswathi were initially reluctant to bring back her body, as they informed the panchayat secretary that they were not in touch with her since she left the house 10 years ago.
There are also allegations that the bodies have not been preserved in cold storage, and have been deliberately left exposed to decay.
“Despite the clear legal and ethical obligation to preserve mortal remains with dignity, such treatment amounts to a gross violation of medico-legal protocols, de-humanisation of the deceased, and the infliction of further psychological trauma upon the grieving families,” the coordination committee for peace stressed.
The committee expressed its shock over the deputy solicitor general appearing for the Centre, opposing handing over at least two bodies, citing a potential “law and order” issue arising from funeral processions.
“Such obstruction reflects a contempt for both human grief and fundamental rights,” the statement read.
The committee stated it was alarmed by reports that the family members, ambulance drivers, and others assisting in the humanitarian process to bring back the mortal remains were facing intimidation and obstruction by the authorities.
“This represents an unconscionable abuse of state power, and deepening the trauma of the bereaved,” the committee stated.
The committee cited court orders, Article 21 of the Constitution of India, Article 16 and 130 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the 2005 UN Human Rights Commission Resolution, and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)’s 2020 advisory on the dignity of the dead in its statement.
“Every human being deserves dignity in death. The continued detention of these bodies is not only legally questionable but morally reprehensible,” the committee opined.
“We appeal to the Government of Chhattisgarh to honour its commitment made before the High Court and release the bodies immediately to prevent further deterioration and allow families to bid farewell to their departed with dignity,” the coordination committee for peace demanded.
The Maoist party’s Dandakaranya special zonal committee has released a letter on Monday, May 26, claiming that the encounter in Abujhmad forests that claimed their supreme leader Nambala Keshav Rao’s life happened because of the information given by ‘traitors’ who surrendered before the police in the recent times.
The Maoists informed that Keshav Rao was captured alive before being shot dead.
Expressing their helplessness in protecting their leader, the Maoists stated that 6 Maoists in Keshav Rao’s team who surrendered before the police, and a unified command member along with some others passed the information on the whereabouts of Keshav Rao to the police.
The Maoists stated that on May 17 and 18, the district reserve guards (DRG) started moving from Kodgaon towards Orcha in Narayanpur district, and at 9 am on May 19 the forces reached close to their unit. As the Maoists got information, they started leaving that area, when the encounter took place.
“The security forces knew that Dada (Keshav Rao) was in the Madh area for the past 6 months. Attempts of the security forces in January and March to eliminate Dada failed. A day before the encounter, thousands of security forces surrounded the entire area. Within 10 hours there were 5 encounters. For 60 hours they encircled us. We couldn’t find either food or water for those 60 hours, but kept our resistance going,” the letter read.
The Maoists stated that despite efforts were made to shift Keshav Rao to a safer location, he resisted, as he didn’t want to leave them, and wanted to lead them from the front.
“Don’t worry about me. I can carry this responsibility for another 2-3 years. You should focus on protecting the young leadership. Movement’s don’t get weakened through sacrifices. I believe that sacrifices have always strengthened the movements in the history. The evil plans of this fascist rule will not bear fruit. The ultimate victory will be of the people,” the Maoists quoted Keshav Rao as telling them before the encounter.
The Maoists said that first they eliminated Kotlu Ram who belonged to the district reserve guards (DRG) in Ramur, which deterred the security forces from moving forward. However, as they resumed firing, the Maoists said that their commander Chandan who was leading from the front got killed first in the exchange of fire.
“To protect Dada, 35 of us put ourselves in the line of fire, but only 7 of us were able to come out alive,” the Maoists revealed.
Reminding that the Maoist party has announced ceasefire a number of times over the last few weeks, the Maoists wondered why the Centre, which has announced ceasefire to ease the tensions on the Indo-Pak border, was not willing to hold peace-talks with the Maoists.
“We had declared ceasefire for 40 days and had not resorted to a single attack. It was during this period the Centre and the state governments planned the big attack,” the Maoists stated.
The Maoists once again urged the Modi government to reconsider its stand on declaring ceasefire and hold peace-talks with them.
Meanwhile, there are multiple theories making rounds regarding the encounter that claimed Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju’s life along with 26 other Maoists.
Activists are suspecting that he was probably tortured before being killed in cold blood.
It can be recalled that Mallojula Koteswara Rao, who was popularly known as Kishenji, was also a top Maoist who was killed in West Midnapore district of West Bengal bordering Jharkhand on November 24, 2011.
As the pictures of Kishenji were leaked to the media, it was clear that he was brutally tortured before being killed. Civil rights organisations had also conducted fact-finding and had alleged that he was first captured, and later killed in the custody of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The allegation was dismissed by the then CRPF director general K Vijay Kumar.
There was also grapevine at the time, that the then West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had some role to play in Kishenji’s killing.
It can also be recalled that on September 15, 2015, Sruthi alias Mahitha (23) and Vidyasagar alias Sagar (32) were killed in Rangapuram village of Tadvai mandal in Mulugu district of Telangana. While documenting Sruthi’s remains, civil rights organisations had alleged that she was brutally tortured and raped before bullets were pumped into her. The pictures of Shruthi showed a twisted elbow, broken fingers, her stomach burnt with acid and her private parts cut using sharp objects.
Even in the killing of Nambala Keshav Rao, the photo showing only his face was released, which is raising suspicions among activists that he was also probably tortured.
“The bodies are not being preserved properly. It will take hardly 2 days for a body to decay in such condition. Then it will be difficult to even keep the body open, let alone identifying torture marks. It certainly looks like an attempt to conceal the injuries on his and others’ bodies, the reason why their bodies are not being handed over to the families. This is probably the lesson they learned after the torture inflicted on Kishenji was known to the people at the time,” said an activist familiar with the developments in Chhattisgarh.
This post was last modified on May 27, 2025 10:21 am