E-Paper
65 days remain for Centre's deadline to end naxalism as India marks 77th Republic Day
41, the number of villages across Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur districts of the state where the Tricolour was hoisted for the first time since Independence.
The country’s 77th Republic Day was especially important in parts of Chhattisgarh in the context of four numbers.
41, the number of villages across Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur districts of the state where the Tricolour was hoisted for the first time since Independence.
11, the number of security personnel that suffered injuries in IED blasts in Bijapur district on Sunday evening.
65, the days left for the Centre’s March 31,2026, deadline to end Maoism.
And, most importantly, four – the number of Central Committee (CC) members remaining in the CPI(Maoist), according to the latest data maintained by security forces.
The first indicates progress.
In villages such as Kutul and Nelangur within Bastar’s Narayanpur district, security forces arranged a volleyball tournament for the villagers and cultural programmes were organised for school students next to the school building where a flag was hoisted for the first time.
Narayanpur superintendent of police (SP) Robinson Guria said, “All these years, Naxals did not let people celebrate Republic Day in these villages. But, Monday was different. Residents from villages next to the camps came together for flag hoisting in the morning, and cultural programmes took place in the afternoon with school students in large numbers. After lunch, there was also a session on community policing. Villagers who saw these changes for the first time also took photographs and videos.”
The second and third numbers indicate the challenge at hand. And the last is a reflection of achievement.
Since the beginning of 2025, security forces in various operations have killed at least 270 Naxals in gunfights, arrested over 900 of them and got at least 1,590 to surrender at different places.
A gunfight in Jharkhand last week led to the death of one central committee member, Anil da or Tufan. The man, also known by his alias Pathi Ram Majhi, was killed along with 16 others in a 36-hour gunfight in Jharkhand’s Chaibasa district.
The four remaining CC members are Ganpathy or Mupalla Lakshman Rao or Ramanna, who is also the party’s former general secretary, Thippiri Tirupati or Devji or Sudharshan, Misir Besra or Bhaskar, and Mallaraji Reddy or Satanna, according to P Sundarraj, inspector general, Bastar Zone.
Devji is believed to be the current acting general secretary.
A year ago, the proscribed party had 21 members in the central committee, which comprises top leaders heading different units. Between January 1, 2025 and January 26, 2026, 12 were killed and five surrendered in different states.
Four men, who carry rewards of at least ₹1 crore each, are still wanted. At its peak between 2003 and 2010, the Maoists had 40-45 CC members.
Senior officials aware of the developments said that in the coming weeks, top officers of the central armed police forces will visit the states to monitor the final weeks and help meet the government’s deadline.
“While one CC member is believed to be hiding in Odisha, the other three are suspected to be in the border areas surrounding Chhattisgarh, Telangana, or Andhra Pradesh. The chiefs will be visiting the different states to take part in the final operations and get back all the remaining cadres into mainstream. If they continue to resist and do not surrender, they will meet the same fate,” said one officer, requesting anonymity.
The officer added that there were not more than 100-150 armed cadres remaining in the jungles but added that Devji had asked cadres to hand him the party money before surrendering.
“The surrendered top leaders did get some of the weapons but could not bring the money with them. Devji and others, who insisted on fighting the forces, took the money to keep up the fight. But every passing day, they are falling short of cadres, weapons and even money. They won’t be able to keep up the fight for long. The target will be achieved for the first time in all these decades,” the officer quoted above added.
A second officer said that top officers from the security forces will be overseeing the development plans of areas freed from Maoist control. During the annual conference of police chiefs in Raipur on November 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reiterated the importance of development.
“Sooner or later, these four wanted men will also be arrested. But what is for sure is that post March 31, 2026, Maoism will not be a major internal security threat because no village will be under their control. There will no longer be Maoist camps or Maoist training sessions,”the second officer added.
Among the most notable deaths of Maoist leaders last year were that of Basavaraju (killed in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur on May 21), Madvi Hidma (killed in Andhra Pradesh’s Maredumili Mandal on November 18), Katta Ramachandra Reddy and Kadari Satyanarayan Reddy on September 22 in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur. The most notable surrenders last year were that of Sujata, who was the wife of top slain Maoist Kishenji and Mallujula Venugopal Rao or Bhupati.
