Final Push In Bastar: Forces Close In On Last 36 Maoists

Raipur: With the March end deadline to eradicate Maoism approaching fast, security forces have gone into overdrive to flush the ‘remaining active’ Maoist leaders from their hideouts in Bastar in Chhattisgarh and neutralize them, a senior police officer indicated to this newspaper on Monday.

Intelligence sources said that barely three dozen hardcore Maoists have remained active particularly in south Bastar and holed them in their hideouts in the border areas of Bijapur and Sukma districts in south Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

“They have confined them in their hideouts in small groups comprising three to four rebels. They have restricted their movements to small areas fearing encounters with security forces. These rebels have lost their capability to fight but are striving for their survival”, intelligence sources said.

“We are trying to reach them through the former Maoists who are known to them. Even the local journalists who had developed acquaintance with them while discharging their professional duties have been tapped to approach the Maoist leaders and convince them to surrender”, a senior police officer said.

The message has been given to them that there is no use to involve them in the Maoist movement which is almost on the verge of collapse following elimination and neutralization of almost the entire frontline leadership of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), the police officer said.

The surrender of Vikas, in-charge of Balangir-Bargarh- Mahasamund (BBM) division of Maoists, along with 14 senior Naxal cadres of the division, facilitated by a local journalist, in district headquarters of Mahasamund a couple of days ago, is a case in point.

Vikas carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakh.

With their surrender, the BBM division collapsed completely leading to the fall of the vital eastern corridor of Naxals, the police officer said.

“Three to four small pockets in Bijapur district still remain a spot of bother for security forces to sanitize the whole of south Bastar after the fall of the Naxal stronghold of Abujhmad”, the police officer said.

Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma has earlier indicated that negotiations were on with some remaining active Naxal leaders through mediators to surrender.

Union home minister Amit Shah has set a target to end Leftwing Extremism in the country by March 31.

Around 280 Maoists were killed and over 1550 have surrendered in Bastar since January one, 2025.

Nearly 1000 firearms including automatic weapons like AK 47 rifles, SLRs, INSAS rifles and LMGs have been recovered from the Maoists in the last six years.