Is number 3 in Maoist leadership jinxed?

Incidentally, another number three in the Maoist hierarchy, Azad, had suffered similar fate last year.

Azad, aka Cherukuri Rajkumar was killed in a controversial encounter with the Andhra Pradesh police last year. Similarly, Kishenji, who had a reward of Rs 19 lakh on his head, perished in an encounter with the police forces at West Midnapore in West Bengal.

According to a dossier prepared by the Home Ministry, General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist) politburo, Ganapati, with a reward of Rs 24 lakh on his head, holds the top rank in the Maoist hierarchy, while N Keshav Rao, with a reward of Rs 19 lakh, is the second-in-command. Both of them have successfully evaded the police.

The other politburo members in order of hierarchy include Kattam Sudarshan with a reward of Rs 19 lakh, Mallojula Venugopal with a reward of Rs 19 lakh, Prashant Bose alias Kishan da with a of reward Rs 7 lakh and Mallarajji Reddy with a reward of Rs 7 lakh.

This apart, eight politburo members are lodged in different jails across the country. They are Kobad Gandhi, Narayan Sanyal, Sushil Roy, Mishir Besra, Pramod Mishra, Akhilesh Yadav, Amitabh Bagchi and Baccha Prasad Singh.