Five accused convicted in 2015 of Maoist attack and attempted murder of police personnel

A court in Kanker has convicted five Maoists – including a couple carrying rewards of ₹ 33 crore between them – for allegedly attacking a police team in 2015, police said on Tuesday (Sep 8, 2026).

In its order on Monday (September 7), the court of Special Judge (NIA/Scheduled Offences Act) Kankera sentenced Prabhakar, a member of the special zonal committee, and his wife Raje Kange, a member of the divisional committee, to seven years in jail each, while Ramesh Kumar Kumeti, Shyam Nath Usendi and Chintu were sentenced to five years each.

On the incident, a senior police officer said that on September 7, 2015, 49 policemen led by then Sub-Inspector Mohan Nishad of Korar police station, Kanker district, reached the Bhaisgaon-Nagramari hill area in search of Maoists. During the manhunt, CPI (Maoist) Prabhakar, Raje Kange and seven to eight other uniformed Maoists opened fire on a police party with the intention of wresting the policemen’s weapons and killing them. The police force immediately intervened in self-defense. After the encounter, the Maoists fled from the spot.

Prabhakar and others were subsequently arrested and the prosecution submitted to the court that Prabhakar and others were members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and had attacked a police team with the intention of killing its members.

The court condemned them, saying that cases involving subversive activities cannot be dealt with as ordinary criminal cases as they directly affect the unity and security of the nation. If the prosecution proves the accusation of the perpetrator in court on the basis of strong evidence, then the legal punishment is the rule for such serious and premeditated crimes. The accused have been accused of several such heinous offences,” it said.

Kanker Superintendent of Police Nikhil Rakhecha said Prabhakar Rao carried a reward of ₹25 lakh and his wife Raje Kange, a Maoist with a reward of ₹8 lakh, worked as DVCM Raoghat Area Committee in-charge and was active in the Maoist organization for about 40 years.

Published – 8 Sep 2026 22:19 IST