The Modi government has clamped down on Naxalism in a big way. Several of their major leaders have either been killed, apprehended or have simply surrendered. In yet another success for the government, the Gadchiroli police has hunted down 14 Naxals in an encounter in the Tadgaon village. It is being hailed as the biggest success for the Gadchiroli Police thus far and has broken the back of the already depleted Naxals. Among those killed in the encounter conducted by the police, two Naxal commanders have also been neutralised. They have been identified as Sinu, a divisional committee member from the South Gadchiroli division of CPI (Maoist), and Perimili Dalam commander Sainath, who had been recently elevated as a divisional committee member.
DIG Ankush Shinde has confirmed the news reports in connection with the successful encounter. He also added that for the first time two divisional committee members have been killed in a single operation. This has added to the string of successes for Gadchiroli police this year. It has already gunned down 17 Naxals this year including three divisional community members as opposed to 19 Naxals in the whole of 2017. In another recent success for the Gadchiroli police, Sunil Kulmethe,, also a divisional community member of south Gadchiroli division, was killed in an encounter near Sironcha Rahul. Naxals in the region seem to have already given up in their fight against the establishment as a result of which five Maoists had surrendered before the Gadchiroli Police on 28th March.
In fact, this year has been full of massive onslaughts by the government and security forces on the Naxalites. Of late, a spate of aggressive assaults have been launched by the security forces against the Naxals. On 27th March, 15 Naxals were arrested by a joint team of STF, DRG, DF and CRPF out of which two were carrying bounties. In another success, 3 Naxals had surrendered before the ITBP on 29th March in Kondagaon in Chhattisgarh. However, an unprecedented success came for the CRPF and local police when 16 Naxals laid down their arms in Sukma, a Naxal stronghold area. This suggested that the government is decisively winning its ferocious battle against the Naxals.
The government has not only been clamping down by way of encounters and combing operations but has devised a holistic strategy to corner the Naxals from all sides. In 2017-2018, poppy cultivation worth Rs. 550 crores was destroyed by the SSB (a Central Armed Police Force). Therefore, the security forces have attempted to curb the financing of the Naxals in order to handicap them.
Going by statistics, the problem of Naxalism is shrinking both in size and severity. In fact, Naxalism is more or less restricted to four Naxal pockets in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Ninety percent of the Naxal attacks took place only in these four states. Even in the severely affected states, there have been fewer instances of Naxal violence. However, this success has not come easily for the government. It has been the result of a revamped strategy taken up by the Modi government and the Home Ministry. The government is hitting the Naxals where it hurts the most. In a massive counteroffensive launched by the government, top level Naxal commanders and informers have been targeted. The construction and development activities are in full swing in the Naxal affected regions which is slowly taking the tribal areas out of wilderness. The Naxals no longer enjoy the cover offered by dense jungles. Naxals are exposed in the open and they are no longer able to move their men and ammunition as freely.
