The government seems to be on a spree of successes against the Naxals. The security forces and the government with the Union Home Ministry at the centre of the recent developments have struck at the root of the Naxals. Naxals have been greatly reduced in presence over the past year to merely 58 districts. Having reduced the insurgents to their core areas, the government and the security agencies are now launching back-to-back assaults right in their den. As a result, the Naxals have been made to run for their lives. The security forces have a strategic advantage in the current situation leading to surrender by hundreds of insurgents.
In yet another massive success for the government the anti-Naxal crusade received a major shot in the arm. As per latest reports, a total of 60 Naxals including 20 women from Abujmarh have surrendered in the Naxal-hit state of Chattisgarh. The surrender took place before Bastar IG Vivekanand Sinha in Narayanpur. These Naxal militants were in contact with the police for quite some time now. They wanted to give up their arms and join the mainstream.
This development has come after a huge encounter by the C 60 commando team of the Maharashtra Police in the Gadhchiroli district. In this landmark success for the Maharashtra police that broke the back of the Naxals, around 50 insurgents had gathered for a wedding when the commando team surrounded the region. They were offered an opportunity to surrender themselves before the authorities. However, when the Naxals attacked the police team it soon turned into a long encounter. As a result, 35 were gunned down in a massive success for the government. While 17 Naxals had been killed in the district last year, 35 have been neutralised in a single encounter showing the importance of this counteroffensive. It goes on to show how the government is dominating the insurgents across the peninsula, major parts of which were once labelled as the red belt. It seems that the government is unfazed by whatever Maoist presence is left in the region and is going helter-skelter after them.
This is not for the first time in this year that the Naxals have given up arms in sizeable chunks. In fact, there has been a pattern of continuous surrenders by Naxals across their strongholds suggesting a shift in ideological behaviour to the detriment of Maoism. Owing to the massive counteroffensive launched by the government at all levels and unprecedented development in the affected region, the month of March had witnessed a spate of surrenders across the left wing extremism affected states. On 29th March, 59 radicals including 16 women had surrendered in the Naxal bastion, Sukma in Chattisgarh. Earlier 10 Naxals had surrendered in Kondagaon district of Chattisgarh. Similarly, 5 Naxals had surrendered in Gadhchiroli district of Maharashtra. The list is endless and the Naxal operatives seem to be inclined towards giving up their arms and joining the mainstream.