Maoists are fast losing support from the Janmilitia members and the people of Bastar, Special Director General of Police , Anti-naxal Operations, D M Awasthi told reporters here on Tuesday.
Sixty five per cent of Bastar region had been freed of Maoists so far, he said while addressing a press conference here to list out the achievement of Chhattisgarh Police during 2017.
“By year 2022, Bastar would be made completely insurgency-free region,” Awasthi said.
He said currently there are 16 insurgency infested districts in Chhattisgarh out of which eight are ‘extreme insurgency infested’.
“Two years ago, there were pockets in Bastar where venturing in was not possible. Now, the movement in such regions have been made possible even for civilians,” he said.
In Bastar, 700 kms of roads have already been prepared and the target is to construct 1,300 roads in the region, Awasthi said.
The Maoist menace have already been eradicated from North Chhattisgarh which is Surguja region , he said.
However, Naxal menace remains a concern in some patches of south Chhattisgarh in Bastar region which would soon be ended, Awasthi said.
The joint offensive by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Chhattisgarh Police have put Maoists on back foot, he said.
In year 2017-18, 76 bodies of Naxals were recovered while 1,017 were arrested, the official informed.
A total of 365 Maoists surrendered and 1458 were killed, the official said.
A total of 221 weapons were recovered which includes the AK-47 rifles, he said.
The operations ‘Prahar-I’ and ‘Prahar-II’ also brought good result and the Maosits were also controlled in the restive Abujhmad area, he said.
Additional Chief Secretary, Home, BVR Subramaniam further added that the Naxals are now restricted to a triangular patch in Kawardha region at the borders of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
With losing support of the Janmilitia and the people of Bastar, the Maoists are facing a tough time, he said.
Awasthi further informed that at present around 75,000 security personnel are deployed in the State for anti-Naxal operations and the situation is well under control.
There is proper coordination between the Central and the State forces as well as with the construction agencies which are developing infrastructure like road networks and mobile networks in insurgency infested regions, he said.