Patna, May 27: A top Maoist leader and a member of CPI (Maoist)’s central committee was found dead in the Lutua forests of Gaya in Bihar on Wednesday.

The deceased Maoist leader has been identified as Sandeep Yadav.

Sources said, a team of CRPF found Sandeep’s body and rushed him to Gaya’s Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital. However, he was pronounced brought dead following which Gaya Senior Superintendent of Police Harpeet Kaur confirmed his death.

Yadav was wanted in over 500 cases by the police force of five states including Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and West Bengal. He had been absconding for 27 years in over two dozen cases. While the Bihar government had announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh on Yadav’s head, the Jharkhand government had announced a Rs 25 lakh reward for catching him dead and alive.