New Delhi: On the third day of a search operation for top commanders of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh near its border with Odisha, security forces Friday killed 10 people suspected to be Maoists.
According to the security forces, the encounter, which broke out in the Bheji police circle around 9 am Friday, lasted nearly 90 minutes and left the in-charge of the 4th platoon of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of CPI (Maoist), dead.
The latest encounter comes amid the spate of anti-Maoist operations launched by the security forces in Chhattisgarh.
With the 10 people killed Friday, the security forces claimed to have killed 207 Maoists so far this year. On top of that, 787 Maoists, they said, have been arrested so far this year while 789 have surrendered their arms.
The Friday encounter comes a day after Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and updated him about the progress towards making Chhattisgarh “Naxal-free” by March 2026. “I met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and apprised him of the Naxal activities in Chhattisgarh… In the last 11 months, nearly 200 Naxals have been eliminated while nearly 600-700 have surrendered. We are fast moving towards the Prime Minister’s and Home Minister’s aim of making India a ‘Naxal-free’ country by March 2026,” Sai told reporters outside the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday.
ThePrint, in August this year, reported that Home Minister Shah assured Chhattisgarh of all logistical support in launching what he termed a “final blow” to the Naxal issue in the country. Addressing the press after chairing a high-level review meeting on Left-wing extremism (LWE) in Raipur, Shah, at the time, promised to make India “Naxal-free” by March 2026.
‘Intelligence about some 30 Maoists’
Sources in the Chhattisgarh Police told ThePrint that before the encounter, officials responsible for intelligence gathering with regards to anti-naxal operations had been developing inputs about the presence of some 30 PLGA commanders in the forest area in Korajuguda, Dantewada, Nagaram, and Bhandarpadar in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district.
The place where the encounter took place lies some 70 kilometres south of the Sukma district police headquarters and nearly eight kilometres from the Bheji police station, as well as 15-20 kilometres from Chhattisgarh’s border with Odisha’s Malkangiri district.
“A search party composed of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force left the district headquarters Wednesday after confirmation of the intelligence input,” Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan told ThePrint.
However, officials said that with the area widely spread out, it was not easy for the forces to identify and confirm the location of the Maoists. Chhattisgarh Police deployed at least 300 personnel to carry out the search operation.
“The Maoist cadre seemed to have dispersed into separate groups. So, it took time to zero in on them. This morning, the exchange of fire began at around 9 am and was over within 90 minutes,” a senior police official told ThePrint.
Among those killed, Bastar Range police have identified 42-year-old Madkam Masa, the in-charge of the PLGA’s 4th platoon, and his wife, Dudhi Hungi, a member of the same platoon.
According to the Bastar Range police, Masa had a Rs 8 lakh reward on his head and his wife a Rs 2 lakh reward.
The Bastar Range inspector general of police confirmed the identification of six Maoists while the process is ongoing for four others.
‘Regular operations, effective surrender policy’
In his press address after the Raipur LWE meeting, Shah, earlier this year, stressed a “final opportunity” for Maoists to surrender their arms and accept rehabilitation into society, adding that the Sai-led government would work to bring a new surrender policy.
Officials aware of the planning of the policy confirmed to ThePrint that the provisions are under discussion but “yet to be finalised”.
Bastar Range Inspector General of Police Sunderraj P. said that to take effective action against the banned and illegal CPI (Maoist) organisation, the local district police force, DRG, and central paramilitary forces are working with better strategy and coordination, which has ensured the killing of 207 Maoists and the arrests of 787 so far this year. Meanwhile, the Baster division has recovered 262 weapons from the 789 Maoists who surrendered, he added.
“We have an effective surrender and rehabilitation policy in Chhattisgarh. More than 789 Naxal cadres have shunned violence and joined the mainstream through this policy. The government makes necessary amendments to the surrender and rehabilitation policies according to the ground requirements and the feedback of all stakeholders. The new policy is in the making and would be a value-added version of the existing one,” Sundarraj P. told ThePrint.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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Amit Shah is absolutely serious about eradicating the menace of Naxalite insurgency in India. It is because of the political will at the Centre that the security forces are able to notch up rapid successes against the dreaded terrorists.
If only the UPA regime was as tough on terror during its term of 10 years, Naxalite terrorism would have been effectively exterminated by now.
The security agencies must keep up the heat on the militants. Only relentless pursuit will lead to absolute annihilation.