Raipur, Mar 31 (PTI) More than four decades after the first “dalams” crossed into the forests of Dandakaranya, present-day Bastar, the sun has set on the armed Maoist rebellion in Chhattisgarh, as the region was on Tuesday declared free of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) on the deadline set by the Centre.
In the 1980s, Maoists entered Bastar, intending to use it as a backyard or hideout amid intensified pressure from the police in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
What began as a small, ideologically driven movement more than 40 years ago metamorphosed into an armed rebellion, before entering a phase of sustained decline that has reshaped Chhattisgarh’s security and governance landscape.
Experts say the trajectory of Naxalism in the region can be summarised in three phases: its gradual entry and expansion from the 1980s, the peak of insurgency between 2004 and 2014 following the formation of CPI (Maoist), and the sustained decline witnessed over the past decade.
Speaking to PTI, Sundarraj Pattlingam, Inspector General (Bastar Range), noted that Maoists initially took advantage of geographical isolation, limited governance reach, and socio-economic vulnerabilities to establish networks in remote forest areas of Chhattisgarh.
The 2003-batch IPS officer has been leading the anti-Maoist operations in the Bastar range for the last nine years.
“Over the last decade, a sustained and coordinated strategy — combining focused security operations, strengthened intelligence, expansion of security camps, improved connectivity, and effective surrender-cum-rehabilitation policies — has significantly weakened the Maoist ecosystem,” he said.
Dr Girishkant Pandey, a security analyst and principal of a government college at Nawagarh in Bemetara district, said the Naxal movement in Bastar traces its origins to 1980.
The Bastar division, which now comprises seven districts, was a single district then, spanning approximately 40,000 sq km, larger than Kerala.
On April 22, 1980, Kondapalli Sitaramaiah, a government school teacher from undivided Andhra Pradesh, founded the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist — Peoples’ War Group (CPI (M-L) PWG, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Russian Revolutionary Vladimir Lenin.
Although Naxalism began with the Naxalbari Uprising in 1967 in West Bengal, it was in the 1980s that the movement gained significant ground in Bastar.
“In the initial years, educated youth from the Regional Engineering College in Warangal and Osmania University in Hyderabad were recruited through student organisations and sent into forests. The early ‘dalams’ had just three members — a party cadre, an armed member and a local guerrilla guide,” Pandey explained.
The group carried out its first recorded attack in Bastar in 1981 at Golapalli in present-day Sukma district, where they shot a cop, he added.
“After arriving in Bastar and witnessing the extreme poverty and difficult geographical conditions, they felt that the reasons they were fighting in Andhra Pradesh were even more pronounced here. This realisation prompted them to expand their activities in Bastar,” he said.
In 1989, the PWG established links with Sri Lanka-based Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), whose members allegedly trained Maoist cadres in the making and use of improvised explosive devices, landmines and ambush tactics in Visakhapatnam.
Simultaneously, the size of a ‘dalam’ increased steadily — from three members in the early 1980s to over a dozen by the early 1990s.
The PWG expanded its presence in the forested regions of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, MP, and Maharashtra in the 1990s.
In 1993, a major political shift occurred within the Maoist organisation, as Sitaramaiah was removed from the post of general secretary by his protege Muppala Lakshmana Rao (Ganapathi), who then took over the reins.
The first phase ended in 2004 with the formation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), which strengthened coordination and expanded operations across multiple states.
Insurgency peaked in the second phase from 2004 to around 2014, with frequent attacks on security forces, infrastructure and governance systems.
The period also saw the emergence of Salwa Judum, a local anti-Maoist civil militia, which was disbanded in 2011, that began in villages near Kutru in Bijapur district.
While it mobilised resistance against Maoists, it also led to violent clashes and the displacement of thousands of tribals.
The decade saw a series of deadly attacks on security forces across Chhattisgarh, including the 2005 Ponjer Nullah IED blast in Bijapur, in which 24 personnel died; the 2007 Ranibodli camp attack in Bijapur that claimed 55 lives; the 2010 Tadmetla attack in Sukma, which left 76 troopers dead.
The decline began around 2014, driven by a coordinated strategy, combining intensified security operations with governance and development initiatives, and in the last two years, the final nail was put in the coffin, Pandey said.
He noted that ideological stagnation, declining recruitment of educated cadres and lack of technological advancement also caused the movement to weaken.
Pattilingam said that anti-Naxal campaigns across Bastar and other states achieved decisive results in 2024, 2025, and 2026, marked by a significant reduction in violence.
Top Maoist leaders at the Polit Bureau, Central Committee, and DKSZC (Dandakaranaya Special Zonal Committee) levels were either killed in encounters, surrendered and joined the mainstream under rehabilitation programs, or were arrested by security forces, he said.
From 2001 to 2023, 329 security camps came up in Bastar, and since 2024 alone, 103 new camps have been established to facilitate operations against Maoists while ensuring basic services for locals.
According to official data, 500 Maoists were killed between 2024 and 2026, accounting for 31 per cent of the 1,600 Maoists eliminated between 2001 and 2023.
“Today, Bastar is very close to being completely Naxal-free,” Pattlingam said, adding that the priority now is to consolidate these gains through expanded governance, development outreach, and reintegration of surrendered cadres into mainstream society. PTI TKP ARU RSY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.