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Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Chhattisgarh from December 13 to 15, his first since the high-level meeting on anti-Naxal operations that was held in August. During the upcoming visit, Shah will preside over a high-level security review meeting.
In the previous meeting on anti-Naxal operations, Shah warned the Maoists, saying that they must either “surrender or be ready to face dire consequences”.
He highlighted the success of the state BJP government in addressing the Naxalite insurgency since it took office in December last year. He pointed out that 90 Maoists were killed, 123 arrested and 250 others surrendered under the current regime.
According to data from security forces, 66 Maoists have been killed, 177 have surrendered, and 195 have been arrested since August 25. The highest number of 33 Maoists were killed in Dantewada district, followed by 13 in Narayanpur and 12 in Sukma. In the past three months, 18 anti-Naxal operations have been conducted across Bastar, resulting in 91 cases registered, 88 weapons recovered and 83 IED devices seized.
Bastar’s Inspector General of Police, P Sundaraj, spoke to India Today TV about the operations. “In 2024, a series of well-coordinated and intelligence-based Naxal operations were conducted in erstwhile stronghold areas of Naxals, including Abhujmaad. These operations have dealt a significant blow to Naxal activities in the region. Our objective is to ensure that the Naxals do not have any safe zones in Bastar.”
“Now, the Maoist leadership and cadres are left with only one option: to shun violence and join the mainstream. The local population is hopeful of ending the decades-old Naxal menace and establishing a new identity for the region,” he said.
Shah’s visit coincides with an increase in anti-Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) operations. The Union Home Minister is expected to spend a night at a security forces’ forward base in Bastar, where he will review the infrastructure work in areas that are said to be on the verge of being freed from Naxal control.
So far this year, 207 Maoists have been killed in Chhattisgarh, a significant rise from the 22 killed in 2023. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai met Shah in Delhi to brief him on the ongoing anti-Maoist operations in the state, according to sources.
