# Naxal commander with Rs 30 lakh bounty killed in Varanasi encounter 2026-09-20T03:36:01+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 5 independent outlets Brijesh Ganjhu, alias Gopal Singh, the chief of the banned Naxal group Tritiya Prastuti Committee in Jharkhand, was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad in Varanasi on Sunday morning. Ganjhu carried a combined bounty of Rs 30 lakh from the Jharkhand government and the NIA, and had been wanted for nearly two decades. The encounter occurred near Lanka Maidan in Ramnagar when Ganjhu was travelling by motorcycle towards Mughalsarai. Police say he fired at the ATS team before being shot in the exchange. Two officers, Deputy SP Vipin Rai and Head Constable Nitin Krishna, were hit but saved by their bulletproof jackets. Doctors declared Ganjhu dead on arrival at hospital. The NIA and Jharkhand police had declared him wanted in multiple cases. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The coverage is uniform straight reporting from wire agencies and official police statements, with no editorial slant across any outlet. All five sources lead with the same facts, the bounty figure, the Naxal commander's identity, the encounter location in Varanasi, and the survival of two police officers due to bulletproof vests. Free Press Journal adds a line crediting the Yogi government's policy, but this is a routine attribution rather than a framing choice since the rest of the report is identical in structure. The NIA bounty of Rs 5 lakh and Jharkhand government's Rs 25 lakh combine to Rs 30 lakh, a detail all sources carry. The encounter was on 20 September 2026, a date the reader can note for any follow-up legal proceedings or agency statements. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com (neutral report) Wire-copy reporting, no editorial framing - indiatvnews.com (neutral report) Straight news summary from police statement - indiatoday.in (neutral report) Detailed timeline of encounter events - deccanherald.com (neutral report) Brief wire update, no slant present - freepressjournal.in (neutral report) Routine mention of zero-tolerance policy tag Tags: Brijesh Ganjhu, Jharkhand, NIA, Tritiya Prastuti Committee, Uttar Pradesh ATS, Varanasi Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/jharkhand-naxal-commander-with-rs-30-lakh-bounty-killed-in-varanasi/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/jharkhand-naxal-commander-with-rs-30-lakh-bounty-killed-in-varanasi/#story-in-brief