At least eight Maoists, including a rebel leader with a ₹1 crore bounty on his head, were killed by security forces on Monday morning in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district.

The offensive in the Lugu Hills of Lalpania was carried out by the special unit of the CRPF’s CoBRA commandos and Jharkhand police after receiving a tip-off on the presence of around 15-20 armed Maoists, including leaders such as central committee member Vivek alias Prayag Manjhi, who had a bounty of ₹1 crore on his head.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who has resolved to eradicate Naxalism by March 2026, lauded the security forces for the ongoing operation.

Sources in the home ministry said the operation began at 5.30am and eight bodies and a cache of arms, including four Insas rifles, an SLR and a revolver, were recovered during the search operation inside the forest.

Among those killed were special area committee member Arvind Yadav alias Avinash, zonal committee member Sahebram Manjhi alias Rahul Manjhi, Mahesh Manjhi alias Mota, Talu, Ranju Manjhi, Gangaram and Mahesh.

Arvind had a reward of ₹25 lakh and Sahebram of ₹10 lakh on their heads. The police had booked them in various cases of violence, said a security official. A total reward of ₹1.35 crore will be distributed among the security personnel who participated in the operation, he said.

The central committee is the top decision-making body of the Maoists.

Jharkhand director-general of police Anurag Gupta said: “With this encounter, Maoist squads in the North Chotanagpur region have been wiped out.”