Brijesh Ganjhu, a senior Naxal commander with a ₹30 lakh bounty, killed in a police encounter in Varanasi

Early Sunday morning the Uttar Pradesh Anti‑Terrorism Squad (ATS) cornered a man they had been tracking for weeks – Brijesh Ganjhu, also known as Gopal Singh Bhokta. He was a senior commander of the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), a splinter group of the Maoist movement that the government has outlawed.

Both the Jharkhand police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had a price on his head – ₹25 lakh from the state and an extra ₹5 lakh from the central agency, making the total bounty ₹30 lakh. The reward was meant to spur anyone with information to come forward, but it looks like the police finally got a solid tip.

According to DySP Vipin Rai of the UP ATS, the tip said Ganjhu would be in Varanasi, riding a motorcycle from Tengra Mor toward Mughalsarai via Ramnagar. The squad moved in, hoping to stop him without bloodshed.

When officers tried to intercept the bike, Ganjhu dismounted and opened fire. What followed was a brief, chaotic exchange of bullets. Two ATS officers – DySP Vipin Rai himself and head constable Nitendra Krishna – were hit by rounds that merely nicked their bullet‑proof vests. Luckily, they walked away unharmed.

Ganjhu, however, was not as lucky. He was struck, sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Doctors later confirmed he had died on the way in.

The firefight unfolded in the Lanka Maidan area, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ramnagar police station. Senior police officials from both Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand rushed to the scene after the encounter, and legal formalities are now underway.

Jharkhand Police IG (Operations) Narendra Singh confirmed the death, while also noting that the TPC remains a banned outfit. The incident marks a rare moment of coordination between state and central agencies in the long‑running fight against Naxal insurgency.

For the families of the officers and for the countless lives affected by the Naxal menace, the loss of Brijesh Ganjhu is a stark reminder of the high stakes in this ongoing conflict.