In 2024, Union Home Minister Amit Shah set March 31, 2026, as the deadline for eradicating Left Wing Extremism from the country. In the two years since then, security forces have conducted intense anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, leading to the killing and surrender of a large number of Maoist leaders and cadres.
In this time, 531 Maoists have been killed in the state, and the banned CPI (Maoist)’s top two bodies, the Politburo and the Central Committee, have lost 24 members who were either killed or surrendered.
“Their entire political structure has been dismantled, and their military structure has been destroyed. Only a few cadres now move in civil clothes and are not much of a threat,” Chhattisgarh Additional Director General (Naxal Operations) Vivekanand Sinha told The Indian Express on the eve of the March 31 deadline.
Earlier, state Home Minister Vijay Sharma said there were fewer than 40 active Maoists in Chhattisgarh and that they also would soon be rehabilitated.
According to Chhattisgarh Police, several areas earlier held by Maoists have been recaptured by security forces. Since 2024, as many as 103 new police camps have been set up in Maoist-affected areas, covering an area of 8,000 square kilometres where there once was a security vacuum. The camps, which also acted as launchpads for operations, came up largely in the Narayanpur, Bijapur and Sukma districts of the Bastar region.
The big blow
Amid the intensified operations, the first big blow to the Maoists came on May 21, 2025, when CPI (Maoist) General Secretary — the chief of the banned party — Nambala Kesava Rao alias Basavaraju, was killed in an encounter along with 26 others in the Abujhmad region, which had long been a bastion of the rebels.
The next big blow was the surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Bhupati, alias Sonu. A Politburo member known as the ideological head of the Maoist party, Sonu surrendered in October 2025 in Maharashtra. Another senior leader, Central Committee member Takkalappalli Vasudeva Rao, alias Ashanna, alias Rupesh, also surrendered that month.
Story continues below this ad
Another major blow to the Maoists was the killing of Central Committee member Madvi Hidma in November 2025. The infamous Maoist commander was allegedly involved in the killings of 260 security personnel and 81 civilians, and was in charge of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army’s Battalion 1 — the most formidable armed unit of the Maoists.
In February this year came yet another massive blow — the surrender of Politburo member Thippiri Tirupathi, alias Devuji. He was seen as the next Maoist chief following Basavaraju’s killing last year, and he headed the Central Military Commission of the CPI (Maoist). In 2000, he created the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army.
During this period, 11 Central Committee members were also killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, while eight CC members surrendered.
In the Politburo, the top decision-making body of the Maoists, only one active member remains — 63-year-old Mishir Besra, alias Bhaskar. Mupalla Laxman Rao alias Ganpathi alias Ramanna, 75, is another Politburo member and former general secretary, who has been inactive for years. His whereabouts and whether he is even alive remain unknown.
Bastar operations
Story continues below this ad
Security forces’ operations since 2024 have focused mainly on the Bastar region, which has for several years been a stronghold of the Maoists.
Between 2024 and 2026, as many as 500 Maoists were killed. In the same period, the number of security personnel killed in Maoist-related violence was 42. As many as 119 civilians were also killed in this period.
“Bastar can now be regarded as approaching a near Naxal-free stage. However, [the target] will be considered fully achieved when Maoist organisations completely lose their ability to function as an armed extremist force — meaning there are no organised armed squads, no capacity to intimidate villagers, and no operational capability to carry out violence,” said Inspector General of Police for Bastar Range Sundarraj P.
Apart from the Bastar region, 30 Maoists were killed in the Gariaband district and one in Dhamtari district. Inspector General of Police for Raipur Range Amresh Mishra said, “By February, all formations active in Raipur Range and its periphery were either neutralised or had surrendered.”
Story continues below this ad
Regarding future challenges, Sundarraj said, “One challenge is the threat posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted earlier by Maoists. The present focus is on consolidating the gains achieved so far. This includes ensuring the organic reintegration of surrendered cadres into mainstream society through rehabilitation measures, securing areas that have been cleared of Maoist influence, and expanding administrative outreach in previously inaccessible regions.”
