Milind Teltumbde, most wanted Naxalite carrying Rs 50 lakh reward, killed in Gadchiroli encounter

Milind Teltumbde, the brother of activist and scholar Anand Teltumbde, was carrying a reward of Rs 50 lakh on his head for his alleged involvement in violent activities against the state. Anand Teltumbde had been arrested earlier in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case and is currently lodged at the Taloja prison in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.

Mumbai: Most wanted Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde is among the 26 dreaded Naxals killed in an encounter with police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district. A senior Maharashtra police official said on Sunday that the gun battle took place at Korchi in Mardintola forest area of the district, located over 900 km from Mumbai, when a C-60 police commando team was conducting a search operation.

The C-60 commandos, an elite wing of the police, had recovered bodies of 26 Naxals during a search after the encounter and Teltumbde, one of the wanted accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, was suspected to be among the dead.

"Teltumbde was among the 26 dead Naxals," a senior state police official confirmed on Sunday. The police also recovered 29 firearms from the spot, including nine 12 bore weapons, nine SLRs (self-loading rifles) and five AK-47 guns, another police official said.