By Deepak Kumar Nayak
On October 4, 2024, in the most successful operation in terms of Maoist fatalities in Chhattisgarh this year, as many as 31 Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres were killed in an encounter between the Maoists and the Security Forces (SFs) comprising personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) of the Chhattisgarh Police, in the forested terrain near Nendur-Thulthuli in the south Abujhmadh area under Orchha Police Station limits in Narayanpur District.
Following intelligence reports of a large Maoist presence of DKSZC (Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee) members, including Kamlesh and Neeti, and other senior cadres such as Nandu and Suresh Salam, a combing operation was launched in the villages of Govel, Nendur, and Thulthuli under the Orchha and Basrur Police Station areas. The encounter between the Police party and Maoists began at 1 PM [IST].
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bastar Range, Sundarraj P, confirmed the encounter and stated, “The bodies were found in the dense forest where the encounter occurred. While the identities of the Naxalites [Left Wing Extremists, LWEs] have not yet been confirmed, preliminary investigations suggest they may belong to the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), Company No 6, Platoon 16, of the Maoist faction operating in the eastern Bastar division.”
During the search, SFs recovered 31 bodies of the slain Maoists in uniform, including NitiakaUrmila (45), a Dandakaranya ’SZC’ member and former east Bastar division in charge, and ‘SZC’ member KamaleshakaR.K., both of whom carried a bounty of INR 2.5 million each; Nandu Mandavi carried a bounty of INR 1 million; and Suresh SalamakaJanku carried a reward of INR 800,000. Besides, a few others are identified as Meena Netam, Mahesh, ArjunakaRanjit, SundarakaKamalu, Budhram Madkam, Mohan Mandavi, Basanti, TugeakaMansingh, Jagni Korram, Anil, JanilaakaBudhari, Ramder, Sukku Yadav, SukluakaVijayakaPandru Korram, SohanakaRohan Padam, Sonu Korram, Jamli, PhuloakaSundari, and a resident of village Irpanar. The identity of the remaining eight slain Maoists is yet to be ascertained. Along with the bodies, a cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, one SLR (self-loading rifle), one INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifle, one Light Machine Gun (LMG), and one .303 rifle, were also recovered from the encounter location. A DRG trooper was also injured in the operation.
Narayanpur had not seen significant Maoist armed activity for the past several years, but there has been a spurt of SF initiated operations in the recent past in an area that was believed to provide safe haven to a number of leadership elements. It is likely that the group of 40 to 50Naxalitesthat was cornered and eliminated on October 4 in the Abujhmadh area had come there for a meeting, from the more troubled districts of the Bastar region.
Prior to this, the major successful operation against the Maoists in the district was recorded on April 30, 2024, when 10 CPI-Maoist cadres, including three female cadres, were killed in an encounter with SFs in the forest between the Tekmeta and Kakur villages in Narayanpur District. Two of those killed in the encounter were identified as ‘DVCMs’ Joganna and VinayakaAshok. The remaining dead were lower rung cadres whose identity remained unconfirmed. A large quantity of weapons, including an AK47 and an INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifle, were recovered from the encounter site.
On September 26, 2024, three high-ranking CPI-Maoist leaders were killed in an operation under the anti-Maoist campaign “Maad Bachao” (save Maad) in the Paradi Forests of Abujhmadh, in Narayanpur District. The three killed were identified as RupeshakaKoluakaShamba Gosai Mandavi of the DKSZC, who carried a reward of INR 2.5 million. The two others, JagdishakaRameshakaSukhlal Tekam of South Bastar ‘DVCM’ and woman Maoist cadre SaritaaliasBasanti of Maoist’s company number 10, had rewards against them of INR 1.6 million and INR 800,000, respectively. SFs recovered an AK-47 rifle, an INSAS assault rifle, two SLRs, two carbines, a .303 rifle, a 12-bore double barrel shotgun, two single-shot guns, 75 pieces of Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) cells, and a large quantity of explosive materials.
On September 23, 2024, three suspected CPI-Maoist cadres, including a woman, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in the Abujhmadh Forest area in Narayanpur District. After the encounter, the security personnel carried out a search operation and recovered the three bodies alongside a cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, from the spot. The identities of the slain Maoists are yet to be confirmed.
These four recent major offensives against the CPI-Maoists in the Narayanpur District were carried out in a part of the densely forested Abujhmadh aara, the ‘un-surveyed’ zone of central India and home to the Primitive Tribal Groups, the Madia Gond and Muriya Gond, which spread over 3,900 square kilometers in Chhattisgarh, which has long been a Maoist resort safe haven.
According to partial data compiled by theSouth Asia Terrorism Portal(SATP), at least 71Naxaliteshave been killed by SFs in the Narayanpur District in 2024 (data till October 6). During the corresponding period of 2023, SFs had eliminated just oneNaxalite, and no furtherrebel fatality was recorded in the remaining period of 2023. OneNaxalitefatality was recorded in 2022 and three in 2021.
In the fight against theNaxalites,SFs have lost one trooper in the district in the current year (till October 6). During the corresponding period of 2023, one SF trooper was killed and, through 2023, two SF personnel were killed, in addition to two SF personnel killed in 2022 and 11 in 2021.
The kill ratio in the current year is emphatically in favour of SFs at 1:71. Earlier, the most positive ratio in favour of SFs in the district was recorded at 1:22 in 2017 and 1:16 in 2016. Earlier ratios in favour of SFs were recorded in 2007 at 1:4; 2011 at 1:1.4; 2013 at 1:5; 2014 at 1:11; 2015 at 1:1.5; 2018 at 1:1.6; and 2019 at 1:6. On the contrary, in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2021, 2022, and 2023, the Maoists got the better of SFs, with ratios at 3:1, 1.25:1, 2.7:1, 3.66:1, 2:1, and 2:1, respectively.
Significantly, since May 11, 2007, when Narayanpur District was carved out from the erstwhile Bastar District, a total of 151Naxalitesand 83 SF personnel have been killed in the district (data till October 6, 2024), yielding an overall kill ratio in the district in favour of SFs at 1:1.81.
Meanwhile, according to the SATP database, SFs have already arrested six Maoists in 2024 (data till October 6) in the Narayanpur District, in addition to 16 in 2023. 426 Maoists have been arrested in the district since May 11, 2007. Moreover, at least two Maoists have surrendered in 2024, in addition to two in 2023. 729 Maoists have surrendered in the district since May 11, 2007. The total number of arrests in the state is 3,547 since May 11, 2007, while 4,112 rebels have surrendered.
Civilian fatalities in the district have been following a cyclical trend without considerable relief. Seven civilians have been killed in the district in the current year (till October 6). During the corresponding period of 2023, Maoists had killed four civilians. Through 2023, Maoists killed nine civilians, in addition to one civilian killed in 2022 and six in 2021. Mostly the civilians targeted by the Maoists were suspected of being ‘informers’ or ‘agents of the Police’.
Fatalities alone do not give an acceptable evaluation of the Maoist danger to the civilian population. According to a May 15, 2024, report, more than 50Sarpanches,residents of Chhotedongar village, located 43 kilometers away from Narayanpur district headquarters in the Abujhmadh area, were forced to live like refugees because the Maoists had issued a ‘death warrant’ against them. The rebels have been opposing the iron ore mine operating in the area for a long time and believed that all theseSarpancheshad a role in facilitating the operation of this mine.
Meanwhile, in appreciation of the recent successful encounter against the rebels in Narayanpur, on October 5, 2024, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo, stated, “Our forces have achieved a great success. 31 Naxals have been killed and this time our soldiers have broken the previous record of 29. Therefore, we congratulate our soldiers, salute their courage and certainly one day Naxalism will end here and peace will be established in Chhattisgarh… Naxalism is taking its last breath… Naxalism is certainly going to be eliminated from the state… Union Home Minister Amit Shah has visited the state twice in nine months regarding this and he has resolved to end Naxalism by March 2026.”
On August 24, 2024, at a press conference after chairing a key security meet on anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh, Union Home Minister (UHM) Amit Shah had declared, “We will free India from Naxal violence by March 2026. The time has come for the final assault on Left Wing Extremism.”
Again, on September 20, 2024, while interacting with the people affected by Naxalite violence from LWE-affected areas of Chhattisgarh under the aegis of the Bastar Peace Committee (BPC), Shah said that the central government was committed to completely eliminating Naxalism by March 2026, and to restoring peace in the regions that were in the grip of the rebels.
On September 30, 2024, Amit Kumar, Additional Director General (ADG) of the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force), reiterated that Naxalism was largely confined to two or three districts of Chhattisgarh and left-wing extremism would become history in the next one-and-a-half years.
It is also pertinent to recall here that, soon after coming to power on December 28, 2023, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai adopted a hardline against the rebels, declaring, “As we are in power again and have our government in the Centre also, we will strongly fight the Maoists, and definitive steps will be taken to end Maoism in the state.”
Conspicuously, as many as 16 major operations (each involving three or more fatalities) against the Maoists in Narayanpur, as well as across the state, have been recorded in the current year. At least five such operations in the state accounted for more than 10 fatalities each. Apart from the October 4 and April 30 incidents, the other three were:
May 10, 2024: 12 CPI-Maoist cadres were gunned down in an encounter with security personnel in a forest area near Pidia village under Gangaloor Police Station limits in Bijapur District.
April 16, 2024: 29 CPI-Maoist cadres, including leadership elements, were killed in an encounter between Maoists and SFs in the deep forests near Binagunda and Koronar under Chhotebethiya Police Station limits in Kanker District.
April 2, 2024: 13 CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in an encounter with security personnel in a forest near Lendra village under the Gangaloor Police Station area in the Bijapur District.
Aggressive consolidation by the SFs has dramatically contained the rebels in the Maoist heartland areas of Abujhmadh in Narayanpur and beyond. While Maoist’s retaliation can be expected, and there have been several incidents in the past across Chhattisgarh where the SFs have been at the receiving end, Maoist capacities and networks have been enormously disrupted. Sustained SF operations in the remaining Maoist ‘heartland’ areas can now create the possibilities of an enduring peace in the last remaining rebel bastions.
