Is No. 3 in Maoist leadership jinxed?

Is the number 3 rank in the Communist Party of India (Maoist) hierarchy jinxed? Two top Naxal leaders -- Kishenji and Azad -- have been killed by the security forces while holding the same position.

Kishenji, whose real name Molajula Koteswar Rao whose mother tongue is Telugu, the dreaded Maoist commander carrying Rs 19 lakh reward on his head, was the third-in-command in the Naxal top body -- politburo.

Azad, whose real name is Cherukuri Rajkumar, was killed in a controversial encounter by Andhra Pradesh police last year and had been officiating in the same position, number 3, when he was killed.

According to a dossier prepared by the home ministry, the top most leader of CPI (Maoists) politburo is general secretary Ganapati who carries a reawrd of Rs 24 lakh and is still on the run while the second-in-command N Keshav Rao with Rs 19 lakh on his head is still at large.

The other politburo members in the order of hierarchy include Kattam Sudarshan (reward Rs 19 lakh), Mallojula Venugopal (reward Rs 19 lakh), Prashant Bose alias Kishan da (reward Rs 7 lakh), Mallarajji Reddy (reward Rs 7 lakh).

There are eight politburo members who are in different jails following their arrest by security forces. They are:

Kobad Gandhi, Narayan Sanyal, Sushil Roy, Mishir Besra, Pramod Mishra, Akhilesh Yadav, Amitabh Bagchi and Baccha Prasad Singh.