Final push on Naxals begins
With less than a week to the March 31 deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to eliminate Left Wing Extremism (LWE), security forces have launched a final, coordinated push across the “Naxal grid” to neutralise the remaining armed cadres.
Around 130-150 armed Maoists are being tracked by security forces, including two central committee members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). The Centre has long described LWE as the country’s most serious internal security threat, with the insurgency
claiming nearly 17,000 lives since it began in 1967.
The ongoing offensive seeks complete neutralisation of armed cadres through encounters or surrenders within the final days of the deadline. Elite units of the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police, along with State police, are leading intensive combing and search operations.
Operations are focused on seven remaining LWE-affected districts: Bijapur, Narayanpur, Sukma, Kanker and Dantewada in Chhattisgarh; West Singhbhum in Jharkhand; and Kandhamal in Odisha.
Key strategies include redeploying COBRA commandos to Jharkhand’s Saranda forests to target senior Maoist leaders such as Misir Besra alias Bhaskar. A multi-State operation involving forces from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Odisha is also underway to prevent regrouping or escape.
The campaign marks a dramatic decline in the insurgency’s footprint. From 76 affected districts across nine States in 2005-06, only seven remain today. In Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region — once the epicentre — nearly 96 per cent of the area is now free from Maoist influence, according to Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma.
Data show that over 370 Maoists were neutralised and thousands surrendered in 2025. Early 2026 has seen further high-profile surrenders, with only a handful of senior leaders still at large. One such figure, Rammanna alias Ganapathi, is reportedly in contact with Telangana Police and may surrender before the deadline.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has drawn up plans for the post-deadline phase, including redeploying select battalions, handing over camps to State police and rolling out welfare schemes in former LWE districts. An announcement on withdrawals and new welfare schemes for former LWE districts is expected on March 31.
“However, the security vigilance will continue even after the deadline”, said Vijay Sharma, the Home Minister of Chhattisgarh. Experts stress that sustained development in remote tribal areas will be essential to prevent any resurgence of the insurgency. “There has to be strong proactive measures to address the issues faced by the tribal and the local populace to prevent any resurgence of the deadly Maoist ideology”, security experts say.
