Hyderabad: A key Naxalite allegedly involved in the slaying of dozens of people in southern India has been killed during a shootout with police, an officer said on Monday.
Suresh was killed on Sunday night in Guntur district, 300 km southeast of Hyderabad, said district superintendent of police P Shivadhar Reddy.
Suresh opened fire when police tried to stop his motorbike, provoking a return of fire, Reddy said.
He died on the spot, but his accomplice fled on the motorbike. Police recovered a diary, Rs 10,000 in cash and a revolver from Suresh, the police officer said.
''Suresh was a top brain of the Naxalite organization in the area and was allegedly involved in killing 40 people, mostly policemen, in attacks on police stations and land mine blasts,'' Reddy said.
Police killed another four suspected Naxalites, including a key leader, in shootouts over the weekend in a dense forest in Andhra Pradesh.
They included M Ravikumar, a member of the central committee of the Naxalite outfit, whom police have been chasing for one-and-half years, superintendent of police N Balasubramaniam said.
Naxalites, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting for more than two decades in several states, killing thousands of people.
Naxalites came to the peace table for the first time in October 2004 in Andhra Pradesh, but the process fizzled out within three months and the fighting resumed.
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