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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Gadchiroli SP declares Maoist menace ‘almost over’

Mumbai: In a resounding statement signalling a historic shift, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police (SP) Neelotpal has declared the district, once the dark heart of the ‘Red Corridor,’ is on the verge of becoming completely free of the Naxal menace. The SP expressed absolute confidence in the complete eradication of the banned CPI (Maoist) presence, noting that the remaining cadres have dwindled to a mere handful. “There has been a sea change in the situation,” SP Neelotpal stated,...

Gadchiroli SP declares Maoist menace ‘almost over’

Mumbai: In a resounding statement signalling a historic shift, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police (SP) Neelotpal has declared the district, once the dark heart of the ‘Red Corridor,’ is on the verge of becoming completely free of the Naxal menace. The SP expressed absolute confidence in the complete eradication of the banned CPI (Maoist) presence, noting that the remaining cadres have dwindled to a mere handful. “There has been a sea change in the situation,” SP Neelotpal stated, highlighting the dramatic turnaround. He revealed that from approximately 100 Maoist cadres on record in January 2024, the number has plummeted to barely 10 individuals whose movements are now confined to a very small pocket of the Bhamragad sub-division in South Gadchiroli, near the Chhattisgarh border. “North Gadchiroli is now free of Maoism. The Maoists have to surrender and join the mainstream or face police action... there is no other option.” The SP attributes this success to a meticulously executed multi-pronged strategy encompassing intensified anti-Maoist operations, a robust Civic Action Programme, and the effective utilisation of Maharashtra’s attractive surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy. The Gadchiroli Police, especially the elite C-60 commandos, have achieved significant operational milestones. In the last three years alone, they have neutralised 43 hardcore Maoists and achieved a 100 per cent success rate in operations without police casualties for nearly five years. SP Neelotpal highlighted that the security forces have aggressively moved to close the “security vacuum,” which was once an estimated 3,000 square kilometres of unpoliced territory used by Maoists for training and transit. The establishment of eight new police camps/Forward Operating Bases (FoBs) since January 2023, including in the remote Abujhmad foothills, has been crucial in securing these areas permanently. Winning Hearts, Minds The Civic Action Programme has been deemed a “game changer” by the SP. Through schemes like ‘Police Dadalora Khidaki’ and ‘Project Udaan’, the police have transformed remote outposts into service delivery centres, providing essential government services and employment opportunities. This sustained outreach has successfully countered Maoist propaganda and, most critically, resulted in zero Maoist recruitment from Gadchiroli for the last few years. Surrender Wave The state’s progressive rehabilitation policy has seen a massive influx of surrenders. “One sentiment is common among all the surrendered cadres: that the movement has ended, it has lost public support, and without public support, no movement can sustain,” the SP noted. The surrender of key figures, notably that of Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias ‘Bhupathi,’ a CPI (Maoist) Politburo member, and his wife Sangeeta, was a “landmark development” that triggered a surrender wave. Since June 2024, over 126 Maoists have surrendered. The rehabilitation program offers land, housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and employment. Surrendered cadres are receiving skill training and are successfully transitioning into normal life, with around 70 already employed in the local Lloyds plant. A District Reborn The transformation of Gadchiroli is now moving beyond security concerns. With the decline of extremism, the district is rapidly moving towards development and normalcy. The implementation of development schemes, round-the-clock electricity, water supply, mobile towers, and new infrastructure like roads and bridges is being given top priority. He concludes that the police’s focus is now shifting from an anti-Maoist offensive to routine law-and-order policing, addressing new challenges like industrialisation, theft, and traffic management. With the Maoist movement in “complete disarray” and major strongholds like the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC) Special Zone collapsing, the SP is highly optimistic. Gadchiroli is not just getting rid of the Naxal menace; it is embracing its future as a developing, peaceful district, well on track to meet the central government’s goal of eradicating Naxalism by March 31, 2026.

Divergent loyalties

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

BJP

Once lording over the BJP in North Maharashtra, the Khadse family has witnessed flip-flops, corruption cases and embarrassing situations in recent years. Sisters-in-law on opposite sides of the political spectrum while the patriarch, who was waiting to return to his parent party, was given the cold shoulder, forcing him to stay back where he is.


It surprised many and upset his followers when Eknath Khadse, a loyal BJP worker and former minister, quit the party and moved to the undivided NCP in 2020 on the heels of alleged corruption charges. He had started his career as a sarpanch of Kothali village and entered the legislative assembly for the first time in 1987 and since then, has won six consecutive elections till 2019 from the Muktainagar constituency in Jalgaon.


Until his fall from grace within the BJP in 2016, Khadse had been a BJP worker since the 1980s and helped grow the party’s base in North Maharashtra. He was made minister in 1995 during the Shiv Sena-BJP government and has held several key positions over the decades. He was the leader of the opposition between 2009 and 2014 and was commended for his efficient work. When the BJP won the elections in 2014, Khadse had openly shown his desire to become the chief minister. Charges of corruption in a land deal and accusations of misusing his office forced Khadse to resign from the government in 2016. Activist Anjali Damania had led the protest against him after a Pune-based realtor accused him of land grabbing and abusing his position as the revenue minister to get land at lower-than-market prices for his family. Even earlier, he was ridiculed for wasting water to create a temporary helipad for his tour of a drought-stricken Latur when the people were thirsty in the parched region.


In 2020, Khadse quit the BJP and joined the undivided NCP along with his daughter Rohini Khewalkar. Khadse’s party colleagues and workers resented his act of cornering key positions for his family members. While his wife was made director of Mahananda, a milk cooperative, his daughter-in-law Raksha has been a BJP Member of Parliament since 2014. Raksha, a three-time MP from Raver is now a minister state at the centre. Before his daughter Rohini followed him into the NCP, she had contested the assembly elections from Muktainagar in 2019 but had lost to the Shiv Sena candidate.


Earlier this year, Khadse had expressed a desire to be welcomed back into the BJP but the party showed no inclination.

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