RAIPUR: CoBRA commandos have avenged the killing of their gallant colleagues Nitin Bhalerao and Vikas Kumar, nearly a year ago, by gunning down the Maoist commander believed to have planned and led the attack.
Maoist militia commander Madvi Bheema alias Basta was shot dead in Sukma district of Bastar on Friday evening. He was the mastermind of at least 11 major attacks in Sukma, including the IED blast of November 28, 2020, in Chintalnar in which CoBRA officers Bhalerao and Kumar were killed and seven security personnel injured.
Sukma SP Sunil Sharma said a joint force of 201 Battalion of CoBRA and District Reserve Guards set out on an operation on Friday on strong inputs about the presence of a large group of Maoists in Gadhdgadhmeta and Tadmetla forests.
“When the forces were returning, they came under heavy fire around 7pm, and retaliated. The gunfight went on for about half an hour after which the insurgents were forced to retreat. While searching the area, forces found the body of a senior Maoist commander, who was later identified as Basta Bheema,” the SP Said. Police recovered a 5kg IED, a gun, explosives and 20 electric detonators from the site of the encounter.
Bheema, an IED expert, was one of the most active Maoists in the region and would lead major attacks on security personnel in the area, said police. Apart from the Chintalnar IED blast, he was involved in the March 2020 Minpa ambush that killed 17 security personnel.
Assistant commandant Bhalerao, who hailed from Nashik, was a decorated officer, known for leading his troops from the front. Kumar had defused an IED and was stepping back when another blew up. Despite being injured, Bhalerao went on fighting the Maoists, who were firing at the security personnel from vantage points. Both officers were from CRPF's 206 CoBRA Battalion.
