There are fewer than 10-12 Maoist pockets in Sukma and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, where security forces are at work to set up camps and gain control of the areas ahead of the Centre’s March 31 deadline to eliminate Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) from the country, officials aware of the matter said.
Security personnel posted in Bastar said that with the joint teams of forces left to cover ground in sanitising the last 10-12 core areas of Maoists, for which the forces are working at full capacity with three months left for the March 31 deadline, many remaining top cadres of the banned outfit have fled the once infamous ”Red Corridor” region and surrendered in other states or were killed in gunfights outside Chhattisgarh.
For example, the latest surrender of Barse Deva, a top military commander of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion 1, along with 19 others, took place in Telangana last week. Deva’s former leader, Madhvi Hidma, a Central Committee member, was killed in a gunfight in Andhra Pradesh in November last year.
In recent months, the two notable surrenders of Central Committee members Sujata, wife of top slain Maoist Kishenji, and Mallujula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupati happened outside Chhattisgarh as well.
“The remaining Maoists know that the forces are inching closer to their hideouts. In our estimate, small groups of not more than 150 armed cadres are hiding within an area of 100 sqkm. But, this does not mean they are spread everywhere. There are pockets within Sukma, Bijapur and a few pockets of Dantewada, which will be taken by the forces within the next few weeks,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.
It was in one such pocket within the Bijapur district –– on the outskirts of two remote villages Gaganpalli and Murkipar under the Basaguda police station limits –– where the forces had a gunfight on Saturday morning in which two Maoist cadres, Hunga Madkam and Arti Muchika aka Jogi, were killed. Twelve others were killed in a separate operation in Sukma.
According to Chhattisgarh Police records, a total of 58 security camps were set up in 2025, up from 15 in 2021, 19 in 2022, 16 in 2023 and 30 in 2024.
“There are three ways to look at why these top cadres fled the Bastar zone and are getting killed or surrendering in other states. First is the anti-Naxal operations by the forces, which is now limited to a few pockets. The pockets are getting smaller and the forces are large in number. They fear that with the deadline approaching there is no chance of winning the fight,” the officer cited above said.
“Second reason could be that many cadres find the surrender policy of other states better, in terms of instant money payout and houses for them,” the officer further said. “The third is the fact that all these hardcore Naxals were involved in killing or attacking a large number of people and forces in Bastar. Maybe they fear that when the time comes, which is now, they will not be spared by forces, especially District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans who are locals affected by Naxal violence.”
Ahead of the March deadline, the forces are now on the hunt for the five remaining Central Committee leaders, including former Maoist general secretary Ganapathy, who, until last month, was believed to be hiding in one such hideout near the Bijapur-Sukma border area.
“These five remaining CC members no longer have an army to lead or they don’t have the physical strength due to their age. The fact that the last remaining areas, too, will be covered within the next few weeks means that these self-styled leaders can’t visit or even have influence over the people there; meaning that the battle against LWE will be won before the deadline,” a second officer said, also on anonymity.
Curated by Aisha Patel
