Maoist leader cremated in Narayanpur amidst family’s demand to return him to his village in Andhra Pradesh

Maoist leader Basavaraju's funeral held in Chhattisgarh despite family's demands, sparking controversy over last rites.

The last rites of top Maoist leader Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, and seven other Maoist cadres, who were gunned down in Chhattisgarh’s Abujhmad area on May 21, were performed in the State’s Narayanpur district on Monday (May 26, 2025), the police said.

The funerals were held in Chhattisgarh despite the family of Basavaraju, 70, demanding that the bodies of the deceased be handed over to them, and the funeral be held in Basavaraju’s native place, Jiyyannapet in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. The family had earlier alleged that the Chhattisgarh Police had refused to hand over Basavaraju’s body to them.

The police, however, claimed that there had been “no legal claimant” for the seven bodies, including that of Basavaraju, and that all basic and humanitarian courtesy had been extended in cremating the “disowned and unclaimed Naxal dead bodies by following due legal procedures”.

“Whereas there was no clear legal claimant for the remaining 07 Naxal Dead bodies including that of Top Ranked Naxal cadre CPI Maoist General Secretary Basavaraju. All those 08 naxal Dead bodies (including that dead body of Maoist cadre Kosi @ Hungi, which was cremated by the family members) were cremated in Narayanpur as per the legal procedure with due order from the executive magistrate,” a police statement said.

According to the police, of the 27 bodies, 20 were handed over to family members after verifying the claims. However, the family members of one of them — Kosi alias Hungi — requested the local authorities to facilitate the cremation of the dead body in the Narayanpur district headquarters itself, citing fear of spread of communicable diseases as the body was in a decomposed condition, the statement added.

Basavaraju’s brother N. Ramprasad, who was in Narayanpur, had earlier alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government was not allowing them to bring his brother’s body to their native village.

The families of Basavaraju, and Sajja Venkata Nageswara Rao, another Maoist leader who was killed in the Abujhmad encounter, had approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court last week, seeking a direction to hand over the dead bodies to them. During the proceedings, the Advocate General of Chhattisgarh had submitted that after the completion of the post-mortem, they would be handed over to the relatives. The court had directed them to approach the Chhattisgarh Police.