Major Milestone: Capturing the Most-Wanted Maoist Commander

In a significant victory for the ongoing anti-Naxal initiatives, Gadchiroli Police, working alongside the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), successfully apprehended a notorious Maoist commander on June 27, 2025. An official statement confirmed that the suspect, identified as Ankal alias Mannu Sulge Pallo, was arrested during the operation and had a bounty of Rs 6 lakh set by Maharashtra authorities.

The decisive arrest occurred while teams were conducting a standard anti-Maoist patrol in the dense wilderness of Kawande, located in Bhamragad Sub-division. During the patrol, personnel from the Special Operations Squad, the newly inaugurated Kawande Police Post, and the C-Company, 37th Battalion CRPF, noticed a suspicious figure. Upon apprehension, the individual was transported to Gadchiroli Police Headquarters for interrogation, where his identity as Ankal Sulge Pallo, the deputy commander of the Korchi Dalam, was confirmed. Investigations revealed he was surveying the region for potential sabotage efforts.

Extensive interrogation linked Ankal to multiple high-profile Naxal activities, including the lethal IED explosion on May 1, 2019, in the Jambulkheda forest under Kurkheda Subdivision, which resulted in the death of 15 police officers. He was also involved in a confrontation with security personnel in the Khobrameda forest on March 29, 2021. Post identification, legal procedures commenced with a case filed at the Purada Police Station and a Judicial Magistrate in Kurkheda remanding him to a seven-day police custody.

Ankal's extensive involvement with Naxal activities began in 2012 with the NIB Company in Chhattisgarh. After serving until 2017 and taking on the deputy commander role in the Korchi Dalam from 2017 to 2020, he operated clandestinely along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border, orchestrating intelligence gathering and ambush plans against police forces.

Currently, five severe criminal charges, encompassing three armed clashes and two homicides, stand against him. This capture marks the 104th Maoist apprehension by Gadchiroli Police since January 2022, underlining the efficacy of sustained anti-Naxal campaigns in the area. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)