The Supreme Court on Friday directed that the body of Katha Ramchandra Reddy, identified by the state as a Maoist leader who was killed in an alleged gunfight with security forces in Chhattisgarh this month, be preserved in a mortuary until the High Court hears a petition filed by his son challenging the authenticity of the gunfight, the Hindustan Times reported.

On September 22, Ramchandra Reddy, carrying a bounty of nearly Rs 2 crore in seven states, and another suspected Maoist, Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy, were killed in an alleged gunfight in Narayanpur district’s Abhujmaad forest, The Telegraph quoted Chhattisgarh Police as saying.

The alleged gunfight had taken place during a search operation that was launched after intelligence inputs indicated suspected Maoists were present in the area, according to police.

However, Ramchandra Reddy’s son, Raja Chandra, has alleged that the gunfight was staged, the Hindustan Times reported.

He moved the Supreme Court after the Chhattisgarh High Court declined to urgently hear his plea before closing for the Durga Puja vacation.

The petition sought preservation of the body so that a fresh post-mortem examination could be conducted. It also called for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe by officials from outside Chhattisgarh.

During the hearing, Advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner, submitted before court that an independent investigation should be conducted in the matter, contending that a credible inquiry could not be expected from the state police.

Opposing the plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Chhattisgarh government, said that a post-mortem examination had already been conducted under videography.

“There were two persons who were killed in this firing,” the Hindustan Times quoted Mehta as saying. “One family took the body, but here they are refusing to accept it. We have agreed to hand it over to them.”

He added: “He was a commander, and there is a bounty by seven states totalling about Rs 2 crore on his head.”

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan refrained from entering into the factual disputes and disposed of the petition with a direction that the body not be cremated or buried until the High Court takes up the matter.

The bench also requested the High Court to prioritise the case once it reopens after the holidays on October 6, the newspaper reported.

In the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, more than 400 suspected Maoists had been killed in 2024-’25, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had said in June.

In 2024, 217 suspected Maoists were killed by security forces in Chhattisgarh.

Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that while many of those killed in Bastar region in 2024 were declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. The families claim that the persons killed were civilians.

The Union government has repeatedly vowed to end Maoism by March 31, 2026.

Also Read: How Chhattisgarh police cremated bodies of Maoist leader and cadres without their families’ consent

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