Raipur, Feb 8: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Centre’s security-centric strategy, infrastructure development, and disruption of Maoist financial networks have yielded significant results, asserting that Left-Wing Extremism will be completely eradicated before March 31.
Shah made the remarks after chairing a high-level security review meeting on Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, ahead of the Centre’s March 31 deadline to eliminate the Maoist insurgency.
In a post on X, the Home Minister said, “Today in Raipur, I held a review meeting with the Chhattisgarh government and officials on anti-Naxal operations. The security-centric strategy, infrastructure development, targeting of the Naxal financial network and the surrender policy have yielded positive results, and Naxalism will be completely eradicated before March 31.”
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, Union Home Secretary, Director of the Intelligence Bureau, and the Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs attended the meeting held at a hotel in Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, officials said.
Directors General of the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and NIA, along with senior police officials from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Telangana, were also present.
The Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, comprising seven districts and sharing borders with Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, has long been regarded as a Maoist stronghold. However, intensified anti-Naxal operations in recent years have significantly weakened the extremist network.
According to police data, since January 2024, over 500 Naxalites, including top leaders such as CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, have been killed in encounters in the state. During the same period, around 1,900 Naxalites were arrested and more than 2,500 surrendered in Chhattisgarh. (Agencies)
