Senior CPI (Maoist) leader and politburo member Prashant Bose, widely known as Kishan Da, died at a Ranchi hospital on Friday after prolonged illness, officials said.
Bose, who had a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head, had been lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail since his arrest in 2021. He was shifted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) after his health deteriorated, and died during treatment.
Inspector General (Prisons) Sudarshan Mandal confirmed the death.
Bose was among the most senior leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist) and had long been considered one of the key figures behind the outfit’s organisational and operational network in eastern India.
He was arrested in November 2021 along with his wife, Sheela Marandi, and others during a joint operation by Jharkhand Police and the CRPF in Seraikela-Kharsawan district. Police intercepted their vehicle near a toll plaza in the Kandra area following intelligence inputs about their movement from Parasnath in Giridih district.
Apart from being a politburo member, Bose also served as secretary of the Eastern Regional Bureau of the CPI (Maoist). Security agencies had linked him to Maoist activities across Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and parts of the Northeast.
Before the formation of CPI (Maoist) in 2004 through the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) and the People’s War Group, Bose had played a prominent role in the MCCI. Officials said he remained one of the most influential figures in the Maoist movement for decades.
According to police records, he was wanted in more than 70 Maoist-related cases in Jharkhand.