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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.

MVA is united, will decide on CM post within a day, says confident Pilot

Updated: Nov 25, 2024

Sachin Pilot

New Delhi: Confident of an MVA win in Maharashtra, Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot on Friday said there would not be any issue among alliance constituents in deciding on the CM post after getting a majority and it would not take more than a day to “figure out who will get what position”.


Pilot, who was given the charge by the party in the Marathwada region and campaigned extensively in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and in constituencies where bypolls are taking place, dismissed indications by exit polls that the BJP alliance in the two states would get a majority.


In an interview with PTI a day before the results, Pilot said the results of the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand as well as to the bypolls in various states will provide a “reality check” to the BJP and the NDA. On the party’s prospects in the recent round of assembly polls after the Haryana defeat, the Congress general secretary said Haryana was a setback and a very surprising one but Maharashtra and Jharkhand were a “separate story”.


“There is a visible desire among voters to have a change in Maharashtra because this double engine government that was running was not living up to any of the expectations that the voters had,” he said.


“The kind of campaign we ran, the kind of guarantees we promised, our coalition partners, candidate selection, our narrative was positive and was well received. So I think we are going to see a change of government in Maharashtra,” Pilot, who held a total of 55 public meetings during the assembly polls campaign, including more than two dozen in Maharashtra alone, said.


Talking about the impact of polls on the central government in case the INDIA bloc wins in the two states, he said, “It is not our job to make the government stable and unstable, it is the contradictions within their alliance that will end up doing that.” “On many issues on, the allies of the NDA are not in agreement. We have seen many bills in Parliament that have been withdrawn, there is lack of consensus, lack of discussion that the ruling alliance has been used to in the last 10 years,” Pilot said.


Asked whether the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents -- the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SCP) -- would be able to decide on a CM face amicably in case they get a majority, he said, “Running for the chair is what the BJP and its allies are doing. All of us had decided that let us first get a majority and within a day we will decide who will get what position. It is really not that important for any of the MVA alliance partners to stake claims and none has done that,” he said.

-PTI

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