Maoist big gun evaded law since bail in 1999

NEW DELHI: CPI(Maoist) central committee member Modem Balakrishna, killed in a counter-Naxal operation in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, was arrested thrice — at Bhadrachalam in 1984, in Mahabubnagar in 1987 and in Kurnool district in 1993.Balakrishna is the sixth central committee member to be neutralised this year. The others eliminated are Chalapathi (in Jan); Vivek Chandri Yadav, alias Prayag, killed in Jharkhand (April); CPI(Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao, alias Basavaraj, a PB and CC member, in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh (May); Thentu Lakshmi, alias Sudhakar, killed in Bijapur (June); and Gajarla Ravi, neutralised in Andhra Pradesh (June).Balakrishna spent two years in Warangal Central Jail following his arrest in 1984, before being released in 1986 end. After being arrested again, by Mahabubnagar police, in 1987, he remained in Musheerabad jail till Jan 1990, only to be released in a swap deal to free kidnapped TDP MLA Venkateswara Rao. Following his arrest in Mar 1993 in Kurnool district, Balakrishna spent over six years in Hyderabad’s Chanchalguda Central Jail. He was released on conditional bail on Aug 18, 1999. He seized the opportunity to go underground and resumed his Maoist activities with renewed vigour, and had been untraceable since.Balakrishna, also known by aliases Manoj, Balanna, Venkateswarlu, Ramchander, Babana, Bhaskar and Rajendra, was, following his release from jail in 1999, made secretary of the Odisha state organising committee and was in charge of the western bureau under the Odisha state committee at the time of his neutralisation.Hailing from Madikonda in Warangal district of Telangana, Balakrishna, as per intelligence agencies, had stayed at Sultanpura, Chaderghat, Hyderabad at different times.An intermediate pass who also did a vocational course from Malakpet Jr. College, Hyderabad (1981-83), Balakrishna had studied till SSC in the English-medium Sulthanbazar Government High School, Hyderabad. He was influenced by the lectures of top Radical Students Union (RSU) leaders Sambamurthy and Santosh Reddy; their ultra-left ideology held sway on campuses in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh at the time. Balakrishna established a base in Bhadrachalam forest as a full-timer in 1983.He was arrested by police from Bhadrachalam bus stand in 1984 and lodged in Warangal Central Jail till 1986 end. After his release, he returned to Hyderabad city and was kept in a den in Mahabubnagar Town. In 1987, Mahabubnagar police raided his room and arrested him, sending him to Musheerabad Jail, where he was imprisoned till Jan 1990. He was released in exchange for kidnapped TDP MLA Venkateswara Rao. He then worked in the Hyderabad city area.In April 1991, the Maoist district committees for Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar were formed, and Balakrishna was appointed as district committee secretary of Mahabubnagar. He was made regional committee member (RCM) of South Telangana Region Committee in May 1991.He was re-arrested in Mar 1993 in Kurnool district and lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail. After being released on conditional bail in Aug 1999, he went underground, managing to evade the security forces for decades, until Thursday.