&w=3840&q=100)
Chhattisgarh CM to brief PM on anti-Naxal ops, hails top leader's death
Just a day after security forces neutralised a top naxal leader, Sudhakar (alias Gautam), in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai departed for Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss the successful operations to finish naxalism, the path forward, while also discussing the state's development.
CM Sai will be visiting Delhi today and tomorrow (June 7).
"I am visiting Delhi for two days. I will return tomorrow. I will meet the Prime Minister and discuss the development of Chhattisgarh...I will also brief him about our fight against Naxalism and the successes we have had," CM Sai said just before departing for his flight.
While hailing the recent successful anti-Naxal operation, which neutralised Gautam, a Central Committee Member (CCM), the Chief Minister saluted the jawans for their bravery in carrying out such operations.
"Operations are going on continuously, and we are achieving success. Yesterday, as well, we had a success. One Central Committee Member (CCM) was neutralised by our jawans yesterday. We salute their bravery," he told reporters.
This is the second such operations by security forces which has led to the neutralisation of a top Naxal leader. On June 5, officials confirmed that the body of Gautam was found, and on May 21, just over three weeks ago, the body of Basava Raju was recovered. A Central Committee Politburo member and CPI (Maoist) General Secretary, he was widely known as the "backbone of the naxal movement."
Bastar's Inspector General P Sundarraj highlighted the two successes of security forces earlier today.
"Based on inputs, the STF, DRG, and CoBRA joint teams were sent for operation. During the operation, exchange of fire between security forces and Naxals took place multiple times. After the exchange of fire, during the search, the body of a Maoist and an AK-47 weapon and a large amount of explosive materials and other arms and ammunition were recovered," the IG said.
According to officials, Gautam was a senior Maoist leader responsible for various violent incidents that resulted in the deaths of numerous innocent tribal civilians and of security personnel.
His death marks a major success for the security forces and is a significant blow to the Maoist leadership, particularly in the Dandakaranya region. His neutralisation is expected to cause a considerable setback to the already weakening strength of the banned and outlawed Maoist organisation.
186 Maoist cadres have been killed in counter-insurgency operations across the Bastar Range in 2025 so far. During the period 2024-2025, more than 403 Maoist cadres have been neutralised and their bodies recovered in the Bastar Range following multiple encounters between Maoists and security forces, according to officials.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump promised to welcome more foreign students, now, they feel targeted on all fronts
To attract the brightest minds to America, President Donald Trump proposed a novel idea while campaigning: If elected, he would grant green cards to all foreign students who graduate from US colleges. "It's so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT , from the greatest schools," Trump said during a podcast interview last June. "That is going to end on Day One." That promise never came to pass. Trump's stance on welcoming foreign students has shifted dramatically. International students have found themselves at the centre of an escalating campaign to kick them out or keep them from coming as his administration merges a crackdown on immigration with an effort to reshape higher education. An avalanche of policies from the Trump administration - such as terminating students' ability to study in the US, halting all new student visa interviews and moving to block foreign enrolment at Harvard - have triggered lawsuits, countersuits and confusion. Foreign students say they feel targeted on multiple fronts. Late Wednesday, Trump himself took the latest action against international students, signing a proclamation barring nearly all foreigners from entering the country to attend Harvard. A federal judge temporarily blocked the order the following day. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) In interviews, students from around the world described how it feels to be an international student today in America. Their accounts highlight pervasive feelings of fear, anxiety and insecurity that have made them more cautious in their daily lives, distracted them from schoolwork and prompted many to cancel trips home because they fear not being allowed to return. Live Events For many, the last few months have forced them to rethink their dreams of building a life in America. A standout student from Latvia feels expendable' Markuss Saule , a freshman at Brigham Young University-Idaho, took a recent trip home to Latvia and spent the entire flight back to the US in a state of panic. For hours, he scrubbed his phone, uninstalling all social media, deleting anything that touched on politics or could be construed as anti-Trump. "That whole 10-hour flight, where I was debating, Will they let me in?' - it definitely killed me a little bit," said Saule, a business analytics major. "It was terrifying." Saule is the type of international student the US has coveted. As a high schooler in Latvia, he qualified for a competitive, merit-based exchange program funded by the US State Department . He spent a year of high school in Minnesota, falling in love with America and a classmate who is now his fiancee. He just ended his freshman year in college with a 4.0 GPA. But the alarm he felt on that flight crushed what was left of his American dream. "If you had asked me at the end of 2024 what my plans were, it was to get married, find a great job here in the US and start a family," said Saule, who hopes to work as a business data analyst. "Those plans are not applicable anymore. Ask me now, and the plan to leave this place as soon as possible." Saule and his fiancee plan to marry this summer, graduate a year early and move to Europe. This spring the Trump administration abruptly revoked permission to study in the US for thousands of international students before reversing itself. A federal judge has blocked further status terminations, but for many, the damage is done. Saule has a constant fear he could be next. As a student in Minnesota just three years ago, he felt like a proud ambassador for his country. "Now I feel a sense of inferiority. I feel that I am expendable, that I am purely an appendage that is maybe getting cut off soon," he said. Trump's policies carry a clear subtext. "The policies, what they tell me is simple. It is one word: Leave." From dreaming of working at NASA to doomscrolling' job listings in India A concern for attracting the world's top students was raised in the interview Trump gave last June on the podcast "All-In." Can you promise, Trump was asked, to give companies more ability "to import the best and brightest" students? "I do promise," Trump answered. Green cards, he said, would be handed out with diplomas to any foreign student who gets a college or graduate degree. Trump said he knew stories of "brilliant" graduates who wanted to stay in the US to work but couldn't. "They go back to India, they go back to China" and become multi-billionaires, employing thousands of people. "That is going to end on Day One." Had Trump followed through with that pledge, a 24-year-old Indian physics major named Avi would not be afraid of losing everything he has worked toward. After six years in Arizona, where Avi attended college and is now working as an engineer, the US feels like a second home. He dreams of working at NASA or in a national lab and staying in America where he has several relatives. But now he is too afraid to fly to Chicago to see them, rattled by news of foreigners being harassed at immigration centres and airports. "Do I risk seeing my family or risk deportation?" said Avi, who asked to be identified by his first name, fearing retribution. Avi is one of about 240,000 people on student visas in the US on Optional Practical Training - a postgraduation period where students are authorized to work in fields related to their degrees for up to three years. A key Trump nominee has said he would like to see an end to postgraduate work authorization for international students. Avi's visa is valid until next year but he feels "a massive amount of uncertainty." He wonders if he can sign a lease on a new apartment. Even his daily commute feels different. "I drive to work every morning, 10 miles an hour under speed limit to avoid getting pulled over," said Avi, who hopes to stay in the US but is casting a wider net. "I spend a lot of time doomscrolling job listings in India and other places." A Ukrainian chose college in America over joining the fight at home - for now Vladyslav Plyaka came to the US from Ukraine as an exchange student in high school. As war broke out at home, he stayed to attend the University of Wisconsin . He was planning to visit Poland to see his mother but if he leaves the US, he would need to reapply for a visa. He doesn't know when that will be possible now that visa appointments are suspended, and he doesn't feel safe leaving the country anyway. He feels grateful for the education, but without renewing his visa, he'll be stuck in the US at least two more years while he finishes his degree. He sometimes wonders if he would be willing to risk leaving his education in the United States - something he worked for years to achieve - if something happened to his family. "It's hard because every day I have to think about my family, if everything is going to be all right," he said. It took him three tries to win a scholarship to study in the US Having that cut short because of visa problems would undermine the sacrifice he made to be here. He sometimes feels guilty that he isn't at home fighting for his country, but he knows there's value in gaining an education in America. "I decided to stay here just because of how good the college education is," he said. "If it was not good, I probably would be on the front lines."
The Hindu
33 minutes ago
- The Hindu
CPI(ML) New Democracy criticises Union government for not handing over the bodies of Maoist leaders to their families
CPI (ML) New Democracy's State official spokesperson and Indian Federation of Trade Unions State president P. Prasad on Saturday accused the Union government of violating Constitution norms and basic human rights by refusing to hand over the bodies of Maoist leaders who were killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh and other places. The party organised a condolence meeting in Srikakulam and recalled the services of Maoist top leaders Nambala Keshava Rao, Sudhakar and others who were killed recently in Operation Kagar launched by the Union government. Speaking on the occasion, he said that completion of last rites was the wish of every family but it was denied by the Union government. He said that the Maoist leaders dedicated their lives for the people's rights while ignoring their own families for many decades. Mr. Prasad said that the government cannot kill the ideology of Maoism with its special operations like Kagar and others. CPI (ML) New Democracy Srikakulam district secretary Tandra Prakash and the party assistant secretary Vankala Madhavarao alleged that the government not handed over Keshavarao's body to his family members in spite of the Andhra Pradesh High Court's order. Several leaders, including Tirupati Rao (CPI), Rao (CPIM) and Tandra Aruna (CPI-ML), offered tributes to the portrait of Keshavarao.
India.com
38 minutes ago
- India.com
Chhattisgarh: Seven Naxalites, Including Two Top Leaders, Killed In Three-Day Operation In Bijapur
Seven Naxalites, including two high-ranking leaders, were killed in a major anti-Naxal operation conducted by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district between June 5 and 7, officials said on Saturday. According to officials, the operation, led jointly by the Special Task Force (STF), District Reserve Guard (DRG), and the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) in the dense forest region of the National Park area, also resulted in the seizure of a large cache of arms, ammunition, and communication equipment. Inspector General (IG) of Police, Bastar Range, P Sundarraj, said that so far, a total of 7 bodies of Naxal cadres have been recovered by security forces during the ongoing anti-Naxal operations in the National Park area of Bijapur district. These include the bodies of Central Committee Member Gautam @ Sudhakar and Bhaskar, a Telangana State Committee Member. "It is worth mentioning that, as part of the continued anti-Naxal operations in the National Park area of Bijapur district, a total of 7 Naxal bodies have been recovered following multiple encounters that took place on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of June 2025," he added. The security forces conducted multiple encounters with Maoists in the dense forest terrain of the National Park area over three consecutive days. During the combing and search operations that followed the encounters, they recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition, including two AK-47 rifles, magazines, and communication devices from the encounter sites. Efforts are underway to ascertain the identity of the five remaining deceased Naxals. "Search and area domination operations are still ongoing in the surrounding forested terrain. A few of the security personnel suffered injuries due to snake bites, honey bee stings, dehydration and other operational injuries. They are being provided with appropriate medical attention. Right now, their condition is normal and out of danger," added the IG. According to official data, 186 Maoists have been killed in counter-insurgency operations across the Bastar Range in 2025 so far. Between 2024 and 2025, over 403 Maoists have been neutralised in the region following sustained anti-Naxal efforts. Commenting on the recent success, Chhattisgarh Speaker Raman Singh referred to the deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah for eliminating naxalism and said, "Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also set a deadline that naxalism will be eliminated from India by 2026. The police are also working with full force, and we will get 100 per cent success."
