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Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Commandos plan final assault on Maoist top guns in Abujmarh
1 2 Nagpur: Maharashtra's elite C-60 commandos are gearing up for a final assault on Abujmarh, tottering headquarters of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, buoyed by CM Devendra Fadnavis's historic visit to the area on Friday. In Odisha, police have intensified searches in Charmal forests of Sambalpur after reports about the influx of Maoists pushed out by security forces' offensives in neighbouring Chhattisgarh. The spotlight, though, remains on Abujmarh, where Operation Clean-up aims to decimate the last vestiges of the military wing of the five-decade old Maoist movement in Maharashtra's eastern flank, say top sources in the state's anti-Naxalite apparatus. A top guerrilla on the radar is central committee member Mallojula Venugopal Reddy, alias Bhupathi or Sonu. Intelligence inputs suggested he was holed up deep inside the booby-trapped forested hills of Abujmarh and spotted a few km off Kawande -- the hamlet CM Fadnavis visited two days ago. Although Bhupathi had appealed to the Centre for a ceasefire and despite his wife Tarakka surrendering a year ago, the veteran may opt to fight till his last breath. Apart from the uncertain terrain, the battle-hardened C60 commandos are also concerned about rains which would make the hills unapproachable with numerous overflowing rivulets and nullahs. Other Maoists on the hit list are Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy alias Kosa, Madvi Hidma, Devuji alias Devji and CPI (Maoist) general secretary Ganapathy. They are frequently shifting bases in Abujmarh and in the three-state junction of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. Another top leader, Prabhakar, head of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, is also a challenge for the forces. Kosa, a veteran revolutionary, and Bhupathi are considered the ideological fountainhead and brother of the late Maoist leader Mallojula Koteswara Rao (Kishenji). Intelligence reports suggest the duo is desperately changing locations to evade capture, moving through the treacherous terrain of Abujmarh, a region known for its inaccessibility and strategic importance to the Maoists. Sources claimed the youngest among the last few politburo members, Hidma, heading "Battalion One" in Chhattisgarh, is likely to have suffered injuries in gun battles with forces last month and has gone underground. "All the top Telugu leaders of the Central Committee and Politburo are 60 years and above, which has made them unsuitable for this challenge," said a top cop. Pressure on top cadres intensified after 12 senior Maoists surrendered to Gadchiroli police on Friday, a significant setback for the outfit. The surrendered cadres, reportedly from the Maad area, are believed to have provided critical intelligence about the movements of Kosa and Bhupathi. In Odisha's Sambalpur, intelligence inputs suggested suspicious movement of some rebels from Chhattisgarh, prompting the searches. "It is not fully confirmed if the rebels dispersed and are trying to shift their bases. Considering their dwindling numbers in Odisha, it is not likely that they will mount offensive action against forces," said a senior police officer. Earlier, DGP Y B Khurania said Odisha police are working hard to nip Left-wing extremism in the bud, reiterating the police effort to meet the Centre's target of eliminating LWE violence by March 2026.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
27 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh encounter identified: DGP
Narayanpur/ New Delhi: Twenty-five Maoist cadre deployed on the protection of Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, were among the 27 ultras — along with the top Maoist himself — killed in an encounter with security forces in the Abhujhmad jungles of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, officers aware of the matter said on Thursday. One member of the special zonal committee, Jangua Naveen, was also among those killed, they added. 'Twenty-five cadres of People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) company number 7 who were given responsibility of guarding Basavaraju were killed in the encounter. We believe they were about 35 in number and the rest of them managed to escape,' a senior officer said, requesting anonymity. Company 7 of PLGA, meant for the protection of central committee members and general secretary, usually operates in the Abujhmad area, officers said. 'All Maoists killed in the encounter have been identified,' Chhattisgarh DGP Arun Dev Gautam said. In all, 12 automatic weapons, three under barrel guns, four .303 and three 12 bore guns were also recovered. Basavaraju, who was gunned down by the security forces on Wednesday morning at the Boker village within the Abhujmaad jungles, was hiding in that area for the past 8-10 days, officers said, adding it had become difficult for the 71-year-old general secretary of banned CPI (Maoist) to escape to neighbouring Telangana or Maharashtra. A second senior officer claimed that there was local intel of Basavraju, who had camped in areas around Boker. 'The fierce gunfight happened in Boker where there are no motorable roads. It is a hilly spot. The gunfight site is almost 20-25 km from Bijapur and about 30-35 km from Narayanpur district headquarters,' the officer said. 'For the past 8-10 days, we had intel that Basavraju along with other central committee members were camping as they believed it was an interior area, and the forces would be unable to reach the spot. It took the DRG personnel two days to reach the spot of the encounter. Even after the gunfight, the forces had to use chopper services to bring back the 27 bodies,' the officer added. The officer added that while senior Maoist cadres often flee to nearby Telangana and Maharashtra, the fact that security forces have recently built forward operating bases (FOB) right up to the Telangana border via Bijapur and up to Maharashtra border via Narayanpur may have made it difficult for the senior-most Maoist leader to flee to the two states. 'The security vacuum at different places has been filled in the last 5 months. For example, the recent 22-day operation at the Karreguttalu hills, where Maoists had set up a unified base around 6 months ago, was one such route through which they regularly used to enter Telangana whenever the forces were active in Chhattisgarh. That place and the route are no longer under their control,' the second officer said, adding that four battalions of DRG (around 1,100 personnel) had climbed up to Boker and laid cordons at different places to stop the senior Maoist cadres from fleeing. IG Bastar P Sundarraj said Basavaraju had a direct or indirect role in all Maoist attacks in the LWE-affected states in the last few years, as he was the commander-in-chief of the central military commission (CMC) of Maoists. 'The security forces carried out this operation very tactically, which resulted in the death of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju... This is a great achievement for the security forces,' the IG added. Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai told reporters in Raipur that with the killing of Basavarju, the government has put the last nail in the coffin of left-wing extremism. 'For the first time in three decades, a Maoist of general secretary rank of the banned outfit has been neutralised. This is an extraordinary achievement and a clear indication that we have put the last nail in the coffin of Naxalism,' Sai said. He added that security forces have neutralised more than 400 Maoists and arrested 1,422 others in the last one and a half years. CoBRA commando, Maoist killed in Sukma A CoBRA commando of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a Maoist were killed in an encounter in Sukma district on Thursday, officials said. The anti-Maoist operation, being led by the 210th battalion of CoBRA and also including personnel from Chhattisgarh DRG and STF, is ongoing in Tumrel village area of the district, officials added. As soon as the forces reached the jungle, the Maoists opened firing and the encounter started. 'After the firing stopped, body of a Maoist was recovered from the spot. Three CoBRA commandos sustained bullet injuries and later one succumbed to his injuries,' a statement from Sukma police said. The deceased commando was identified as Mehul Solanki while the identity of the slain ultra is yet to be ascertained.
Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
25 Maoists killed in Bastar op were members of Basavaraju's protection detail
NARAYANPUR: The 25 Maoists killed in Wednesday's fierce gunfight that led to the killing of Communist Party of India (Maoist) general secretaryNambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur were members of his elaborate protection detail, officials said on Thursday. Apart from Basavaraju, Jangua Naveen, a member of the special zonal committee, was also killed in the gunfight. Officials said the 25 Maoists killed in the operation were members of People's Liberation Guerrilla Army's (PLGA) Company number 7 that was assigned to protect the party general secretary and top central committee members. These fighters usually operated in the dense jungles of Abujhmad. 'Twenty-five cadres of People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) company number 7, who were given the responsibility of guarding Basavaraju, were killed in the encounter. We believe that they were about 35 in number and the rest of them managed to escape,' a senior police officer said. Among the weapons found at the encounter site were 12 automatic weapons and three under-barrel guns. A senior intelligence officer said the operation was launched following an intelligence input. 'Since Basavaraju and other senior leaders have a team of guards, they usually camp near water bodies in Abujhmad in summer. A local input came to police that the members of company number 7 were seen near Boter village after which the operation was launched,' said the intelligence officer. The intelligence officer suggested that the first encounter started on Tuesday evening. 'Basavaraju managed to escape from the first encounter spot but ran into another encounter around four kilometers away as the force had cordoned off a radius of 10 km,' said the officer. It was in the second gunfight that he was killed at about 3am on Wednesday. But it was only several hours later on Wednesday morning that some surrendered Maoist cadres identified Basavaraju's body. Chhattisgarh director general of police Arun Dev Gautam said all the 27 Maoists killed in the operation have been identified. Bastar inspector general (IG) P Sundarraj said Basavaraju had a direct or indirect role in all Maoist attacks in the Left-Wing Extremism-affected states over the last few years. 'The security forces carried out this operation very tactically, which resulted in the death of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju... This is a great achievement for the security forces... Peace and normalcy will be restored in the area, and the people of the country hope that Naxalism will be eradicated. Peace and normalcy will prevail in the area,' the IG said. Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai told a press conference in state capital Raipur that Basavarju's killing was the proverbial last nail in the coffin of naxalism. 'For the first time in three decades, a Maoist of general secretary rank of the banned outfit has been neutralised. This is an extraordinary achievement and a clear indication that we have put the last nail in the coffin of Naxalism,' Sai said in a press conference here. Our government's policy has been to answer bullets with bullets and talks with talks, he added. The chief minister said, security forces have killed more than 400 Naxalites and arrested 1422 Naxalites in the last one and a half years,
Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Maoists retreated to Karreguttalu Hills… They never thought we'd negotiate so many IEDs': Inside the op that killed 31 Naxals
The massive anti-Naxal operations in Karregutta hills on Chhattisgarh-Telangana border has led to the breaking up of the dreaded Battalion 1 of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)'s armed unit People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and key Maoist leadership, officials said Wednesday. The remarks come days after security forces announced that they were calling off the operation, which saw the deployment of over 25,000 people. At a press conference he held Wednesday, Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) GP Singh called 'Operation Karreguttalu' 'historic and successful'. The operations began on April 21, after security forces after multiple agencies received inputs that top Maoist leaders and commanders, including Hidma Madvi, were spotted in the Karregutta hills. The Karregutta hills, which literally translates into the 'The black forest' hills, are stated to be 700 metres high and thickly-wooded, with officials claiming that the terrain makes it difficult to scale. Security forces have claimed that a total of 31 Maoists have been killed in the operation. A 16-year-old is among those killed, The Indian Express has found. Giving operational details, Singh said: 'As the dominance of the security forces increased, the Maoists formed a unified command and retreated to the Kareguttalu Hills, considered an impenetrable area on the border of Bijapur district (Chhattisgarh) and Mulugu district (Telangana)'. According to the officer, security forces had now established camps and conducted intelligence-based operations in the border areas of Sukma and Bijapur districts – places that previously had a strong presence of armed Maoist units such as the PGLA, the Central Reserve Command (CRC) Company, and the Telangana State Committee. 'The hills are around 60 km long and 5-20 km wide. The terrain and geographical conditions were tough and challenging. Over the past two-and-a-half years, the Maoists gradually established their base here including the technical units (weapon making units) and 350 armed forces of the Maoists were hiding there,' he said. The area was rife with Improvised Explosive Devices, the officer said. Significantly, according to security officials, two security force personnel lost their limbs in separate blasts, while half a dozen suffered injuries. 'They never thought we would negotiate so many IEDs and get to them,' Singh said at the press conference Wednesday. 'We found 450 IEDs and neutralised them while there were 15 blasts. We destroyed four of their technical units (weapon making units for IEDs, Barrel Grenade Launchers (BGL), locally fabricated weapons). We have the latest technology and are a step ahead of them. We will sanitise the hills so civilians can come back here again.' Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Arun Dev Gautam, who also addressed the press conference, said 'heavy losses' were inflicted on the Maoists. 'The main objectives of this operation were: establishing new security camps to fill security voids, effective implementation of state development schemes in Maoist-affected districts to ensure all-round development of the region for the benefit of citizens, and conducting effective operations against the armed cadres and the entire ecosystem of the Maoists. As a result of the implementation of this action plan, security forces have inflicted heavy losses on the Maoists' armed cadres and their ecosystem, significantly reducing their area of influence,' he said. Additional Director General (Naxal operations) Vivekanand Sinha said it was a 'meticulously planned operation which involved a lot of intelligence inputs, in depth planning, excellent coordination with troops on the hills which helped us to avoid casualties due to IED blasts'. 'Our troops braved the harsh weather and we were able to provide them with food and water through choppers. Due to this operation, we have broken their military units and key leadership into smaller parts. They all had congregated here and thought we could not get to them but we succeeded,' he said. Bastar Range Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P said that 28 of the 31 Maoists whose bodies have been found so far had a bounty of over Rs 1 crore. 'Several key leaders have either been killed or injured. However, due to difficult terrain, not all bodies could be recovered,' he said. While Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Yadav said 216 Maoist hideouts and bunkers had been destroyed. 'Searches at these locations yielded 450 IEDs, 818 BGL shells, 899 bundles of Cordex, detonators, and large quantities of explosives,' he said. When asked about minors being recruited in the Maoists' rank, DGP Gautam said: 'Right from the beginning, Naxals would recruit children. Initially they recruited them as Bal Sangam, then Chetna Natya Mandali for propaganda. They are used as carriers and messengers. Once they train them, they become soldiers. This is an old practice'. Another official told The Indian Express later: 'We have information that Maoists are recruiting 12- to 13-year-olds in their Army and giving them gun training'. Meanwhile, in his first reaction since the operation was called off, Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that security forces had achieved 'a historic breakthrough in the resolve to make the country Naxal-free'. Shah had previously set a deadline of March 2026 to eliminate Left-Wing Extremism. In his speech, Shah reiterated this deadline, adding that the Indian Tricolour was now 'lying proudly in the hills on which red terror once reigned'. 'Our security forces completed this biggest anti-Naxal operation in just 21 days and I'm extremely happy that there was not a single casualty in the security forces in this operation,' he said.
Hindustan Times
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
31 rebels killed, forces capture Naxal-held hill along Chhattisgarh-Telangana border
Security forces have captured the strategic Karreguttalu hills along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, once under the exclusive control of Maoists, killing 31 rebels during a mammoth three-week operation involving 26,000 personnel, officials announced on Wednesday. The operation, titled Black Forest and concluded on May 11, dismantled what authorities described as the unified headquarters of several Naxal formations, including the notorious People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion 1, the DKSZC, TSC, and the CRC. 'The hills which were ruled by red terror now proudly hoist the tricolour,' said Union home minister Amit Shah, calling it the 'biggest operation till date.' Prime Minister Narendra Modi, quoting Shah's post on X, added: 'This success of the security forces shows that our campaign towards rooting out Naxalism is moving in the right direction. We are fully committed to establishing peace in the Naxal-affected areas and connecting them with the mainstream of development.' The scale of the operations was such that the forces – personnel from the central and state — built a helipad on top of the hills during their campaign. CRPF director general GP Singh told reporters in Bijapur: 'This was the main den of the Naxals. Around 300-350 had settled and were operating from here. It was a no-go area for security forces all these years.' The joint operation, supported by the Indian Air Force (IAF), revealed an extensive network of approximately 250 caves converted into weapons manufacturing facilities. Four technical teams from Battalion 1 were manufacturing weapons for the armed insurgency army from this camp. Forces uncovered factories producing guns, grenades, and under-barrel grenade launchers, complete with generators powering the production facilities, junior personnel involved in the operation said, asking not to be named. 'Cave intervention is a new learning from this operation. Generally, our troops are trained for house intervention, vehicle intervention and things like that,' Singh said, explaining that the troops faced unfamiliar tactical challenges in the cave environment. He added that the success 'is the beginning of the end for Naxal groups.' Security personnel also discovered nearly 450 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted throughout the hills. Fifteen undetected devices detonated during the operation, injuring 18 personnel. No security force fatalities were reported. Officers noted that the Naxals had established their own markers to identify IED locations, allowing them to navigate safely through the mined area. Among the materials seized were 12,000 kg of food rations, printers used for producing propaganda, and 818 barrel grenade launcher shells manufactured in the cave factories. Chhattisgarh police chief Arun Dev Gautam said intelligence reports several months ago indicated Naxals from different states were establishing a unified command at the location. 'The hills are almost 50 km long and have a width of around 5 to 20 km at different places. In the last year, they had set up a base where 350 armed cadres had taken shelter,' Gautam said. Across the cave network, forces found four Maoist technical units for arms manufacturing, along with medicine and first aid kits, sewing machines for stitching Naxal uniforms, and 1,100 beer bottles. CRPF DG Singh revealed they had discovered 'a new phenomenon of Naxals using beer bottles to pack minimal explosives, which are hard to detect but effective to cause injuries.' The 28 Naxals identified thus far carried combined rewards of ₹1.72 crore announced by various state police forces. Officials are still verifying reports of senior Maoist members killed or wounded in the operation. When questioned about top Maoist commander Hidma, who was believed to be hiding in the area, CRPF chief Singh said: 'Whatever we had set out to do, we have achieved more than that. It was to dislocate and break the leadership that had congregated at one place.' He acknowledged the difficulties in retrieving bodies in the challenging terrain: 'Retrieving bodies is also difficult in that terrain.' Infamously known as the 'black hills,' the 60-km stretch features elevations of 700-900 metres with absolutely no road access, making it an ideal hideout for the banned group's operations. Much before it became the site of their unified command base, sometime in November or December last year, the Kerraguttalu hills were used as an escape route by the insurgents to flee into Telangana whenever forces intensified anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh. This escape route has now been cut off by security forces. During the 21-day operation, security forces engaged in 21 separate gunfights with Naxals, the officials said. Describing the remote and dense nature of the forest, one official added that they even encountered a bear during their mission. On May 7, while the operation was still underway, Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai had posted on social media platform X about 22 Naxals killed in the operation, but later deleted the statement. An officer involved explained: 'On May 7, the operation was still on. It was decided not to release any details about the operation until it was complete.' The government has set a deadline of March 31, 2026, to eliminate Naxal violence completely. Singh emphasised the government's 'relentless and ruthless approach to ensure that the country is free of Naxals' by this date. Security forces have intensified their campaign, killing 197 Naxals this year, compared to 280 last year. The aggressive operations have prompted retaliatory violence, with Naxals killing 16 civilians on suspicion of being police informers. Twenty security personnel have also been killed in the first five months of 2025. Forces continue to sanitise the captured hills for remaining IEDs, which officials believe could number in the hundreds.
