Desperate Bid? Back To The Wall, Maoists Give Bandh Call In Chhattisgarh, Kill ASP-Rank Officer
CPI (Maoist) Politburo may have been reduced to just three members now, while the strength of the armed cadre could also have come down to about 1,500
A desperate CPI (Maoist) killed an ASP-rank officer of the Chhattisgarh Police in an IED blast on Monday, allegedly laying a trap for the police party by spreading rumours of arson in Konta ahead of their bandh call on June 10.
Data, however, suggests that the Naxals are at their lowest numbers ever and are growing more and more desperate.
As per Union government data till June this year, 226 Naxals have been killed, 418 arrested (including two Central Committee Members), while 896 have surrendered. The figure last year was 290 killed, 1,090 arrested, and 881 surrendered. Among those neutralised were 18 top Naxal leaders.
Politburo Reduced To 3
CPI (Maoist) Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the Naxal group, may have been reduced to just three members now, senior CRPF officials told CNN-News18.
Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu, Thippiri Thirupathi alias Devuji, and Misir Besra alias Sagar could be the only surviving top leadership in the outlawed group whose politburo, at the start of the decade, could have had 12 members.
The central committee, the second most-important body, could also have depleted by 60 per cent with recent encounters in Chhattisgarh and Telangana, officials estimated.
Of the central committee members, Rukla Srinivas alias Ramtra was neutralised in 2019; Buryari Sudhakar (CCM) was killed in 2019; Prashant Bose alias Kisan Da (PBM)—with a reward of Rs 1.47 crore—was neutralised in 2021; Sheela Marandi (CCM), killed in 2021; BG Krishnamurthy (CCM), killed in 2021; Milind Teltumbde alias Deepak (CCM)—with a reward of Rs 50 lakh—was neutralised in 2021; Yapa Narayan Rao alias Haribhushan (CCM), neutralised in 2021; and Akkiraju Haragopal alias RK (CCM) was killed in 2021.
Also, Vijay Arya alias Jaspal (CCM), Mitlesh Mehta alias Mitlesh Prasad (CCM), and Arun Kumar Bhattacharya alias Kanchan (CCM) were neutralised in 2022. Kudakam Sudarshan alias Anand (PBM) —carrying a reward of Rs 1 crore—Pramod Mishra (PBM) and Sanjay Deepak Rao (CCM) were killed in 2023.
Last month, the general secretary of the party, Basav (Anna Raju), was gunned down by state police in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, inflicting the biggest blow to Maoists. Head of PLGA battalion 1, Hidma, could have escaped by a whisker after the Karregutta operations that killed 31 Naxals.
Armed cadre down by 50%
While no exact numbers were available, Chhattisgarh officials estimated that the strength of the armed cadre of Maoists could also have come down to about 1,500. 'In 2024, the total numbers of arrested, killed and surrendered Maoists were about 3,500. These were part of the armed cadre. But after the series of recent operations, the estimate is that their strength may have depleted by more than half," a senior Chhattisgarh official told CNN-News18.
Data available with central forces named Mupalla Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapathy, Mallojula Venugopal alias Bhupati alias Abhay, Misir Besera, Nambala Kesava Rao alias Basav Anna Raju and Appa Rao alias Chalpati as the politburo members who were steering the Naxals in the last few years.
The central committee, as per official data, had as its members Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy, Deoji, Pulluri Prasad Rao, Bhaskar alias Modem Balakrishna, Ganesh Uike, Gajrala Ravi, Madvi Hidma, Anal Da, K Ramachandra Reddy, Sujata, Mala Raja Reddy, Asim Mondal, and TLN Chalan alias Sudhakar. Most of these had a reward of Rs 40 lakh to Rs 1 crore on their heads.
Nambala Kesava Rao alias Basav Anna Raju was killed on May 21 this year. A month before Rao, Chanderi Yadav, central committee member and in-charge of Maoists in Jharkhand and Bihar, was gunned down. Appa Rao, another politburo member and in-charge of Odisha, was killed in January 2025.
Unable to retaliate
While the earlier elimination of Naxal leadership was fiercely retaliated, latest MHA data shows a trend reversal. A 73 per cent reduction has been noted in the number of security personnel killed in anti-Naxal operations.
While 1,851 policemen and women were killed in the Naxal zone between 2004 and 2014, the number dropped to 509 in 2014–2024.
Naxals would often kill civilians, branding them police informers, but civilian deaths have also declined by 70 per cent, Union government data suggests.
As per MHA data, there is a 53 per cent drop in Naxal violence over the past decade. Between 2004 and 2014, 16,463 incidents of Naxal violence were reported. The number dropped to 7,744 between 2014 and 2024, government officials said.
About the Author
Arunima
Arunima is Editor (Home Affairs) and covers strategic, security and political affairs. From the Ukraine-Russia War to the India-China stand-off in Ladakh to India-Pak clashes, she has reported from ground zero ...Read More
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tags :
chhattisgarh CPI (Maoist) ministry of home affairs Naxals
Location :
Chhattisgarh, India, India
First Published:
June 10, 2025, 16:59 IST
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