Overview
- Rupi, an Area Committee Member, was shot dead during a firefight in the Machpalli–Aramjhora–Hidur forest in Kanker after a Monday search based on specific intelligence.
- Police recovered her body with a pistol, ammunition, and Maoist materials, and teams are still combing the area.
- Kanker SP Nikhil Rakhecha identified her as the last active Telugu cadre in Bastar and said she carried a Rs 5 lakh reward.
- The encounter came less than two weeks after the government declared Chhattisgarh free of armed Maoists on March 31.
- Bastar range police urged remaining cadres to surrender under rehabilitation schemes, noting that active strength in some districts has fallen to single digits.