Top commander among 6 Naxals killed in India's Odisha gunfight

NEW DELHI, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A top commander was among the six Naxals killed in a gunfight with police in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, officials said Thursday.

The encounter took place in Kandhamal district, about 271 km west of the state capital Bhubaneswar.

Odisha police chief Yogesh Bahadur Khurania told media that two Naxals were neutralized in Kandhamal on Wednesday, with a significant cache of ammunition recovered. In a follow-up operation on Thursday along the Kandhamal-Ganjam border, four more Naxals were killed in exchanges of fire at multiple locations.

Khurania identified one of those killed Naxals as Ganesh Uike, head of Odisha's command and a central committee member, who was involved in several major attacks across multiple states.

The gunfights, according to police, broke out after police contingents carried out a joint search operation based on specific intelligence information indicating the presence of Naxals in the area.

Police said they suffered no damage during the stand-off.

India's federal Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the operation as a "major breakthrough."

The Indian government has resolved to eradicate Naxalism by March 31, 2026. The insurgency, active in central and eastern India, has claimed hundreds of lives and displaced thousands.