Security personnel sit beside weapons surrendered by Maoist cadres in Dantewada, in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar division, on March 31
| Photo Credit: AFP

The story so far:

On May 21, 2025, Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavraj, then general secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist), was killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Abujmarh area. The operation was led by the District Reserve Guard and the CRPF’s CoBRA unit. His successor, Thippiri Tirupati alias Devji, surrendered by February 2026 along with cadres and weapons. With most Central Committee leaders killed or arrested, the organisation is now largely leaderless. With these developments, can the five-decade-old Maoist movement be considered “finished,” as Home Minister Amit Shah has claimed, in line with his March 31 deadline to end the insurgency?

Published – April 19, 2026 03:00 am IST