RAIPUR: The 365-day countdown for the Centre’s deadline for elimination of Maoists has begun.
Bastar IG P Sundarraj told TOI on Saturday that 310 Maoists had been killed since Jan 2024 and that there are barely “400 regular armed cadres” left in Bastar division. A total of 385 Maoists have been slain since 2021, which means the bulk of them were killed in the last year.
Even the Maoist central committee is greatly weakened and has only 12-14 active commanders left, he added. These numbers give security agencies confidence that they will be able to meet Union home minister Amit Shah’s vow to eradicate naxalism by March 2026. Bastar division now has only around 1,200 Maoists left, the IG said, adding, “The door is open for them to shun violence and surrender, or have a final face-off with security forces.”
“With 385 naxalites killed since 2021, Bastar is left with around 400 regular armed cadres. The remaining 700-800 are militia men who serve as a support system, members of the cultural wing, like Chetna Natya Manch and Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangh (DAKMS). The central committee is also shrinking. Our major concern, as well as target, are the uniformed ones, mostly in PLGA formations, and senior-level cadres of Battalion 1,” P Sundarraj told TOI.
Battalion 1 is headed by dreaded Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, whose home turf is now bristling with security forces, and where basic needs, like roads, water and electricity, are pouring in, thanks to the establishment of police camps.
Many central committee members have died due to age-related ailments or have been arrested in the past four years, and those left will also be eliminated automatically with the end of naxals, said police. Sundarraj said that militia members often turn out to be just as dangerous as hard-core PLGA cadres, but the focus is to bring them to the mainstream as they understand the phrase “Jiska Dum Uske Hum (We stand with the powerful)”. “They realise they are being used as a tool. Once they are on this side of the fence, they only want development and facilities,” the IG added.
Former Maoist Badranna, who now lives in Jagdalpur, said he believes real solution to naxalism is peace talks.
Security experts, however, told TOI that these numbers are just a perception and it’s not possible to have an exact naxal cadre count. “For sure, Maoists have suffered massive losses of late and have been pushed to the brink. Their aggression is almost depleted, yet it’s a long fight ahead,” an internal security veteran cautioned.
“If naxalism comes to an end next year, no one can guarantee that no violence will happen after March 31, 2026, but the focus is not based on a single-point agenda. The area of their dominance has decreased, their strength is not the same, security camps are bringing about development that people want, so we are hopeful of reaching the desired goal,” said IG Sundarraj.