Maoist leader Ravula Srinivas alias Ramanna is reported to have died of a heart attack in the forests of Chhattisgarh. (Image used for representation). (GETTY IMAGES.)

Maoist leader Ravula Srinivas alias Ramanna (56), who carried a reward of Rs 40 lakh on his head, died of a heart attack in the Bastar forests of Chhattisgarh, the police said.

Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district superintendent of police Sunil Dutt said, reliable information received by the police revealed that Ramanna, a member of the all-powerful Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist), had died in Chhattisgarh forests. “We are trying for more details about the death of Ramanna,” he said.

The Maoist party also did not make any statement on his death, but senior police officers in Chhattisgarh confirmed that a senior Maoist leader had died.

In addition to being a Central Committee member, Ramanna was also the secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC). He was drafted into the Central Committee in 2014.

Ramanna hails from Bekkal village of Maddur mandal in Telangana’s Siddipet district and had been underground for a long time. His wife Sodi Idime alias Savitri is also an underground Maoist leader and is the secretary of the Kistaram Area Committee in Bastar.

Their son, Srikanth alias Ranjit also works in the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion. Ramanna’s brother Parasharamulu was also a Naxalite leader and was killed in an exchange of fire with the police in Nekkonda police station limits in 1994. Incidentally, his wife, also a Naxalite, was killed in the same exchange of fire.

By virtue of heading the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, Ramanna was overseeing the Maoist movement which is very strong in the Bastar forests of Chhattisgarh and Gadchiroli, a part of Maharashtra.

Ramanna had led several violent attacks on security forces in Chhattisgarh, including killing of 76 CRPF jawans at Chintalnar village of Dantewada district on April 6, 2010, 16 security personnel at Jeerum Nullah in Sukma district on March 11, 2014 and 25 CRPF personnel at Burkapal in Sukma district in April 2017.