Raipur | Top Maoist leader Anand alias Sudarshan Kattam, who carried a cash reward of Rs one crore on his head, has died of a heart attack in a forest area of Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, police said on Sunday.

Kattam, who was 69 years old, died on May 31, Additional Director General of Police (Naxal Operations) Vivekananda confirmed.

"He was a politburo member of the central committee of Maoists. The government had declared a cash reward of Rs 1 crore on his head," the police official told PTI.

Maoists have released a press release informing about his death and more information is being collected about it, he added.

The press release issued by Abhay, the spokesperson of Maoists' central committee, said Kattam died last Wednesday around 12.20 pm after suffering a massive heart attack.

He was a patient of chronic bronchitis, high blood pressure and diabetes, the release said.

Kattam was born in Bellampalli district of Telangana. After completing a diploma in mining he joined the Maoist movement after getting influenced by the Naxalbari-Srikakulam clashes. He played a key role in organising, building and spreading Maoist movement in different parts of the country, the release said.

He had joined Dandakaranya forest committee of Maoists in 1987 and was appointed as the secretary of Maoist North Zone Special Zonal Committee in 1995, it said, adding he was the editor of 'Maoist Kranthi', 'Erra Jenda', 'People's War' and 'People's March' publications at different times.