Bastar (Chhattisgarh) [India], July 16 (ANI): A total of 281 Maoist cadres, including top leaders, have been killed in the past year amid continued operations by local security forces and central paramilitary forces, Bastar Inspector General (IG) P Sundarraj said on Wednesday.
Speaking to ANI, IG Sundarraj said, “Against the banned CPI Maoist organisation, local security forces and central paramilitary forces have been taking constant action. Dead bodies of their top leadership, including General Secretary Basavaraju, Central Committee member Sudhakar and many others, were recovered during different encounters.”
The Bastar IG further stated that the Maoist stronghold in the region is steadily shrinking, and the CPI Maoist is on the verge of being eliminated.
“They have accepted that in the last year, 281 Maoist cadres have been killed. This proves that actions taken by the security forces have jolted the Maoist organisations. Their area is shrinking, and the number of their cadres is decreasing. In the coming times, we will completely eliminate the CPI Maoist,” IG Sindarraj said.
This update comes as part of ongoing efforts by security forces in Chhattisgarh against Naxalites. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai also remarked on Tuesday that Naxalism in the state is in its final stages.
While addressing reporters after children from the Naxal-hit Sukma district visited the Chhattisgarh Assembly, CM Vishnu Deo Sai stated, “Naxalism is taking its last breaths, our security forces have been fighting Naxalites with strength for the past one and a half years, and we are also benefiting from the double-engine government.”
He reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s resolve to end Naxalism by 2026.
“PM Modi and Union Home Minister have resolved to eliminate Naxalism from the entire country by March 31, 2026, and their dream will also come true. Our forces are fighting with great strength,” he told reporters.
Sharing an X post, CM Sai lauded lauded state government’s Niyad Nellanar Scheme in Naxal-affected villages of Chhattisgarh.
“New dawn in Naxal-affected areas. “Niyad Nellanar Yojana” is bringing prosperity to remote areas,” the X post read. (ANI)