Top Maoist leader Prashant Bose, who had been jailed in Jharkhand for the last four years, died in State-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on Friday (April 3, 2026), police said.
The Maoist leader, who was better known as ‘Kishan da’, was over 80 years old.
“The health condition of Bose, who had been lodged in Birsa Munda Jail, deteriorated this morning, but he died during treatment. The exact cause of his death is yet to be ascertained,” Ranchi SSP Rakesh Ranjan told PTI.
Bose, who also went by aliases ‘Manish’ and ‘Buddha’, was arrested along with his wife Sheela Marandi from Seraikela-Kharsawan district on November 12, 2021. He was carrying a bounty of ₹1 crore on his head at the time of his arrest.
He was the mastermind of more than 100 incidents of attack and arson in several states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Bose was an active member of the central committee, politburo and central military commission of the banned outfit Communist Party of India (CPI) (Maoist).
Jharkhand had in August 2018 announced a reward of ₹1 crore on the head of Bose, who hails from West Bengal. Other States, too, had declared rewards.
He was in charge of Maoist activities in several States in the East and was believed to have been operating from Saranda forests.
Published – April 04, 2026 10:40 am IST
