The Daily Populous Saturday April 26th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by indiatoday.in and submitted by Aryan202602

In what is being termed as the largest-ever anti-Naxal operation in the country, over 20,000 security personnel from three states have surrounded over 1,000 Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, according to sources. At least five Naxals have been killed in the operation involving security personnel from Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.

The massive crackdown comes as Union Home Minister Amit Shah set a deadline of March 31, 2026, to eliminate naxalism.

The operation, which has been ongoing for over 48 hours, was launched following intelligence inputs on the presence of top Naxal leaders, including the elusive and most-wanted commander Hidma and battalion chief Deva.

Security personnel belonging to different units, including the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Bastar Fighters, Special Task Force (STF), all units of the state police, as well as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA), are involved in the operation.

The security forces have surrounded the Karregutta hills, located along the sensitive Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, to cut off all escape routes for the Naxals.

The area, surrounded by dense forests and a series of hills, is considered to be the base of Maoists' battalion no. 1.

A few days ago, the Naxals had issued a press note and warned villagers against entering the hills, saying that a large number of IEDs had been planted in the region.

The development comes at a time when the government has made making India "Maoist-free" its priority. "Before March 31, 2026, we will completely eradicate Naxalism from the country so that no citizen of the country has to lose his life due to it," Amit Shah said in February.

So far, nearly 150 Naxalites have been gunned down in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh this year. Of them, 124 have been eliminated in the Bastar division, known as the hotbed of Naxals.

The Centre has also cracked down on Naxals in Jharkhand in the same breath. Last week, eight Naxals, including a top leader carrying a bounty of Rs 1 crore, were killed in an encounter with CoBRA commandos of the CRPF in Bokaro district of Jharkhand.

Published By: sharangee Published On: Apr 24, 2025

niniwee on April 26th, 2025 at 12:15 UTC »

Here I thought the New People’s Army were the only remaining Maoist rebels after Sri Lanka

wolverine-7364 on April 26th, 2025 at 10:51 UTC »

20k damn..

Aryan202602 on April 26th, 2025 at 10:38 UTC »

Wiki link for those unaware about this problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxalite%E2%80%93Maoist_insurgency?wprov=sfla1

Naxalism/Maoists = Indian communists who took up arms against the Indian Union.

This was hidden due to the influx of the India-Pakistan situation news cycle.

This is the largest Anti Maoist operation by India till date. This is under the government's Initial March 26 deadline to eliminate all naxals from India.

The modus operandi is to either surrender or be gunned down.

This would solve India's decade-long internal conflict with the Maoists, once the Maoists controlled large swathes of many territories in various states in India, now it's limited to one last jungle and hill.