A Jharkhand-based Naxal commander, carrying a ₹30 lakh bounty, was killed in an encounter with police in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi on Sunday morning.

The Naxal commander, identified as Brijesh Ganjhu, alias Gopal Singh, was the chief of the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), a banned organisation in Jharkhand. The TPC is the splinter group that emerged from the CPI (Maoist).

“We have received information from IG STF that Brijesh Ganjhu, alias Gopal Singh, was neutralised in an encounter in Varanasi this morning,” IG Operations and Jharkhand Police Spokesperson Narendra Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.

The Jharkhand government had announced a reward of ₹25 lakh for information leading to Ganjhu's arrest, while the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced an additional reward of ₹5 lakh. Thus, the combined bounty on the Naxalite commander was ₹30 lakh.