India, Sept. 20 -- A Jharkhand-based Maoist commander, carrying a Rs.30 lakh bounty, was killed in an encounter with police in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi on Sunday morning,

The Maoist 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).

He was a resident of Lutu, falling under the Lawalong Police Station in the Chatra district of Jharkhand, and was killed in an encounter near Tengara Mod in Varanasi.

The Jharkhand government had announced a reward of Rs.25 lakh for information leading to Ganjhu's arrest, while the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced an additional...