Indian commandos kill senior Maoist rebel

INDIA: Security forces killed a Maoist rebel commander in southern India on Monday as they continued a crackdown on the guerrillas across several states which has left 12 rebels dead in the past week, officials said.

Police said a special commando force shot dead the Maoist platoon commander, who had a million-rupee bounty on his head, in a forest in the state of Andhra Pradesh. "It appears that most of the top leaders were returning to their base after a post-summer conclave, but we were waiting for them," Swaranjit Sen, the state's director general of police, told Reuters.

In April, the government pledged to step up its fight against Maoist rebels, with four neighbouring states in eastern, central and southern India devising a common cross-border strategy.

Police backed by para-military forces using helicopters have busted dozens of Maoist hideouts deep inside jungle bases, officials said.

Three senior rebels and nine others have been killed in recent days, and automatic weapons, grenades and explosives have been seized.

"There is definitely a shift in political intent of pursuing the rebels now and that is why the government is tasting success of late," Ajai Sahni of the Institute for Conflict Management, a New Delhi-based think-tank, told Reuters recently.

Kolkata, tuesday, Reuters