Latest news with #Naxal
Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
66 Maoists, Rs 2.54 crore bounty, 5 districts and a single-day surrender in Bastar
As many as 66 Maoists, including 49 with a combined bounty of Rs 2.54 crore, surrendered before the police in five districts of Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Thursday. With this, the total number of surrendered Maoists in the last 18 months, which saw an unprecedented number of anti-Maoist operations, rose to 1,570 — a significant increase when compared to the 2022-2023 period, when 813 had surrendered. Thursday's surrenders come amid a new initiative from the security forces, called 'Poona Margham', a Gondi term that means 'new path'. Under this initiative, the security forces will focus more on reaching out to families of Maoists for help in persuading them to surrender. The seniormost Maoist cadre to surrender on Thursday was 37-year-old Ramanna Irpa, alias Jagdish, alias Vikesh, who was a Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) member carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh. A resident of Basaguda in Bijapur district, Ramanna had been active for two decades and has at least 30 cases against him, including murders. On the effort that went into getting him to surrender, a police source said, 'We were trying to get him to surrender for three months. We had contacted his family and were persuading them to get him to surrender, and finally, he surrendered with his family's help.' Giving credit to the Poona Margham initiative for the large number of surrenders on Thursday, Inspector General of Police for Bastar range, Sundarraj P, said, 'Our repeated appeals to Maoist cadres to give up violence and return to the mainstream are showing encouraging results. The surrender of 66 cadres, including a state-level committee member, across five districts in a single day is a strong indication that the Naxal outfit is approaching its end.' Bijapur SP Jitendra Yadav said, 'With the establishment of new security camps in interior regions and improved access to roads, transport, drinking water, electricity, and other public welfare schemes, development is now reaching the remotest villages. Widespread disillusionment with Maoist ideology, increasing internal conflicts within the outfit, and a strong desire to live a peaceful and secure family life are among the primary reasons behind these surrenders.' While surrendering with weapons makes the cadres eligible for cash rewards, a senior officer said none of the 66 had done so. 'None of them surrendered with weapons. They never surrender with weapons as they fear their families will be targeted by Maoists, which has happened in the past,' the officer said. The surrendered cadres include one DKSZC member, four divisional committee members, 10 People's Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) cadres, 15 area committee members, seven local organisation squad members, and 29 other rank cadres.
The Hindu
19 hours ago
- The Hindu
66 Maoists surrender in five Bastar districts in Chhattisgarh
As many as 66 Maoist cadres, carrying a combined bounty of ₹2.54 crore, surrendered in five districts of Chhattisgarh's Bastar division on Thursday (July 24, 2025). A bulk of them, 25, surrendered in Bijapur while 15 surrendered in Dantewada, said Bastar Inspector General of Police P. Sundarraj. While 13 surrendered in Kanker district, eight and five Maoists laid down arms in Narayanpur and Sukma districts respectively. The surrendered cadres include one sub-zonal committee member or SZCM carrying a reward of ₹25 lakh and four divisional committee members who are considered relatively higher up in the Maoists military formation. Over the past 18 months, 1,570 Maoists have surrendered in the Bastar division, the police added. 'With the establishment of new security camps in the interior regions, and improved access to roads, transport, drinking water, electricity, and other public welfare schemes, development is now reaching the remotest villages. The growing trust between local communities and security forces — nurtured through community policing and awareness efforts — has significantly contributed to this wave of surrenders,' said Mr. Sundarraj. ₹50,000 given as initial help Each surrendered member was provided a cheque for ₹50,000 as an initial incentive to support their reintegration into society. Further benefits under the government's surrender and rehabilitation policy are being processed, the IG added. Speaking to journalists in Bijapur, one of the surrendered Maoists said that continuous security operations by the forces in the hilly terrains had also shrunk the area of influence where they lived in relative safety earlier. Mr. Sundarraj said appeals to Maoist cadres to give up violence and return to the mainstream were showing encouraging results. 'The surrender of 66 cadres, including a State-level committee member, across five districts in a single day is a strong indication that the Naxal outfit is approaching its end,' he said.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Learn from Ram's exile, recite Ramcharitmanas: MP Police to homesick recruits
Amid a surge in requests from police recruits to shift them to training centres closer home, the Madhya Pradesh Police plans to start Ramcharitmanas sessions every evening, in the hope that Lord Ram's 14-year exile can offer a lesson or two. The new batch of recruits began their training this week in eight police training schools (PTS) across the state. Officials said they will be asked to recite at least two chapters of Ramcharitmanas daily before sleeping to stave off homesickness. ADG (training) Raja Babu Singh told The Indian Express, 'I have been receiving applications from new recruits asking for a change of their PTS closer to home. But this mindset is counterproductive. If officers are trained only near their homes, how will they ever adapt to postings in challenging regions like those affected by Naxal insurgency?' Drawing parallels with Lord Ram's exile, Singh apprised senior officers that the idea of staying away from home is not new to Indian tradition. 'Lord Ram did not return to Ayodhya for 14 years. During that time, he learned to live in the forest, built an army, and overcame hardship. If we want to teach our recruits lessons, they will have to be from our local culture, which they can relate to,' he said. According to the MP police, 300 fresh recruits have applied for transfer to a PTS near their home district. Senior officials said that if even a few are allowed, 'the floodgates for the transfer will open up'. Currently, 4,000 recruits are set to undergo the nine-month basic course training. The Ramcharitmanas sessions will be conducted by the head of the barracks every evening. This is not the first time Rajababu Singh has drawn on spiritual and cultural traditions in policing. Known for his earlier 'Gita Gyan' awareness campaign while serving as ADG of Gwalior zone, Singh had distributed copies in jails during Dussehra. The MP police have also moved to promote regional identity and pride, with every PTS required to introduce local folk martial arts and dances. 'There are also training schools where martial arts like Kalaripayattu are taught; we are going to make a list of all Indian martial arts forms and teach them to the recruits,' Singh said. Commando drills such as frog jumps, monkey walks, duck walks, and inchworm walks have also been integrated to simulate combat readiness using the body's natural movement, officials said.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Danger of thought: on the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill
The Maharashtra Special Public Security (MSPS) Bill, 2024 follows the disturbing pattern of executive overreach in the name of security. Existing laws are often misused against political opponents and critics of the ruling party, including commentators. Charges are often vague and sweeping, and the process itself becomes the punishment in many of these cases. Given this pattern, the move by Maharashtra's Mahayuti government led by the BJP to create an entire law to criminalise a certain kind of thought portends danger to freedom and democracy. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the new law would only target those who try to undermine the constitutional order, but the possibility — indeed the probability — of its misuse is apparent. The State says that it is seeking to prevent Maoists from brainwashing youth, professionals, and civil servants through front organisations. As in the proposed law, which is now awaiting the assent of the Governor before coming into force, the State government can declare any suspect 'organisation' as an 'unlawful organisation'. Offences under the proposed law include membership of such organisations, fundraising on their behalf, managing or assisting them, and committing unlawful activities. The Bill's focus is on people and organisations that act as a front for Maoists, and what is unlawful is so broadly defined that anyone can be its target. Among other things, according to the Bill, 'unlawful' is 'any action taken by an individual or organization whether by committing an act or by words either spoken or written or by sign or by visible representation or otherwise, which constitute a danger or menace to public order, peace and tranquility'. Offences are cognisable and the accused can be arrested without a warrant. Punishment includes jail terms of two years to seven years, along with fines ranging from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh. The State argues that Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have enacted Public Security Acts and banned 48 Naxal frontal organisations. The Opposition parties offered feeble resistance to the Bill and raised some broad concerns regarding its misuse but it was passed in the Assembly through a voice vote. As an afterthought, the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) protested on the floor when it was taken up in the Legislative Council. The Bill had gone through a long deliberative process, but as it turns out, all parties appeared to be in agreement, barring the lone CPI (M) MLA who protested against it on the floor of the Assembly. The idea that thought and speech, howsoever unpalatable they might be to the ruling establishment, should be policed poses a grave danger for India as an open society.
DW
2 days ago
- Politics
- DW
India's Maoist crackdown leaves villagers grieving – DW – 07/23/2025
India has vowed to crush the long-running Maoist-inspired Naxal insurgency by March 2026. In the jungles of Chhattisgarh, villagers are mourning those killed in the crossfire. On a rainy afternoon in Bodga, a remote village deep in the forests of Chhattisgarh, a state in central India, Sukli Oyam sits quietly on the mud porch of her thatched home. She holds a photograph of her 22-year-old son, Ramesh, who was killed last year in a crossfire between government forces and left-wing Maoist rebels, known as Naxals or Naxalites. The Naxals — named after the village in the foothills of the Himalayas where their armed campaign began nearly six decades ago — were inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. They follow a form of communism propagated by Mao, and have waged a guerrilla-style insurgency against the government, particularly in central and eastern India. Every time Oyam looks at her son's picture, her eyes fill with tears. The day he was killed is seared into her memory. Oyam recalled how her family had gathered to celebrate the christening of Ramesh's younger daughter. Ramesh, a millet farmer and the family's sole breadwinner, set out to his relatives' home to fetch a chicken for the evening feast. On the way, he stopped by the river to bathe. He never returned. On the riverbank, a bullet hit him, turning a day of joy into one of mourning, she said. "After my son's killing, we fear leaving our homes and my life has changed," 60-year-old Oyam told DW. "Now whenever the police enter our area, villagers like me hide inside their houses. During encounters, our life comes to a halt." "I demanded compensation from the government for my son's death, but there has been no response," Oyam lamented. Oyam's neighbour, Raje Ayam, recalled a similar encounter. She told DW that security forces stormed into her house last March after mistaking it for a Maoist hideout. She said she was shot in the back while feeding her child, the bullet narrowly missing her spinal cord. Raje described how other villagers rushed her to the hospital after they found her lying in a pool of blood. She survived her injuries — but a year later, she said that she still struggles. "After the injuries, my body isn't working. I'm not able to farm or go to the jungle for work," she told DW. "My body has been almost paralyzed by the injury and I'm barely able to walk. Whenever I go to the forest and see soldiers, I fear they might kill me." The Maoist insurgency has simmered deep inside India's forests for decades. It began in 1967 in Naxalbari, a small village in the Indian state of West Bengal on the east coast, as a Maoist-inspired rebellion advocating for land rights and social justice for marginalized tribal communities. Today, the Naxals claim to fight for the rights of India's indigenous communities, collectively known as Adivasis. Their goal is to overthrow the Indian state through armed struggle. Bastar, the region in Chhattisgarh where Bodga is located, has become heavily militarized. Since 2019, around 250 security camps have been set up in the area — part of a surge that has placed one armed personnel for every nine civilians, according to a 2024 report by Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact Foundation, a civil society organization. Security forces have intensified their operations in the forests of Bastar since last year. In early 2024, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Operation Black Forest (also called Operation Kagar) to wipe out the Maoist movement. Given the tough terrain of these vast jungles, large numbers of security personnel were deployed, along with advanced surveillance technologies and drones. The past two years have been the bloodiest period for Maoist insurgents in over a decade, with more than 400 Naxals killed in the Bastar region alone, according to the state's Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. Earlier this month, DW reporters followed the Special Task Force, known as the District Reserve Guards (DRG), on a patrol in the Bastar region. The operation was led by DRG sub-inspector Sanjay Paul. Their mission: to track down Maoists operating in the area. For Sanjay, carrying out operations in these jungles is complex and risky. He tells us the dense forests are the perfect hiding place for Naxal fighters to carry out ambushes. "The Naxal ideology poses a huge threat to us and to our country, we will not sleep till we finish it," Sanjay told DW. His words echo the stance of New Delhi. In February 2025, Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah lauded the security forces for successful operations and set a deadline for eliminating the Naxal movement. "I reassure the nation that by March 31, 2026, India will surely be Naxal-free," he said. As the heavy-handed approach tightens its grip on Bastar's forest villages, locals are left mourning their dead. Many told DW that the line between Naxal fighters and villagers has blurred. They accuse security forces of carrying out indiscriminate killings. Iytu Oyam, a bereaved father, from Komhu village in Narayanpur district, travelled to Bodga to meet us. He claimed that his son, Moto Oyam, was killed in a "fake encounter" by security forces last May while he was working on his farm. "I want to tell the world that my son was innocent. He was not a Naxal. What was his crime that he was killed?" he told DW. Activists and human rights lawyers have alleged that counter-insurgency operations have turned Bastar into a war zone where Adivasi communities, which make up most of the local population, live in constant fear from both sides. They claim there is a pattern of extrajudicial killings, often called "encounter killings," where police allegedly stage civilian deaths to look like combat fatalities. Reports by groups such as Human Rights Watch have also documented arbitrary detentions, forced displacement, and sexual violence by security forces. "They have turned Bastar region into a graveyard, where almost every family has a story of human loss," according to lawyer Bela Bhatia, who is supporting Adivasi people in their claims against the state. When we confronted DRG officer Sanjay Paul with these allegations, the police officer denied any deliberate targeting of civilians. "Sometimes it happens by mistake. During crossfires, civilians can die. But we do not kill civilians intentionally," he told DW. Decades of Maoist insurgency, Naxal violence, and state crackdowns have left nearly 12,000 people dead — including civilians, militants and security personnel, according to the latest figures from watchdog South Asia Terrorism Portal. For Sukli Oyam, sitting with her son's photograph, justice feels like a distant dream. "My son is gone," she said quietly. "The police didn't protect us. The Naxals who claim to fight for our rights didn't help us. We are just stuck in between."
