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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.

Stardust in Assembly polls

The poll campaign in Maharashtra drew to a glitzy close with a touch of glamour and stardust as Pawan Kalyan, actor and the deputy chief minister of Andhra Pradesh drew huge crowds as he campaigned in Pune, Nanded and Latur for the BJP

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Mumbai: What’s politics without a sprinkling of stardust? And when the stardust is powered by political heft, it makes it even more exciting. On Sunday, actor-politician Pawan Kalyan was clearly the flavour of the poll season in parts of Marathwada and even Pune as thousands turned up to see him, hear him and cheer for him. The candidates he was there for, were probably relegated to the background amid the clamour for a closer look at the movie star.


A BJP candidate even declared, in Shakespearean style, that Kalyan “came, saw and he conquered”. The actor-politician’s charm was evident in the crowds that turned up in Pune’s usually uptight Camp area. His opening greeting in Marathi of ‘majhya ladkya bahinino ani bhavano, prempurvak namaskar’ has charmed the audiences who gather. A movie star and influential politician from the south of India who speaks Marathi and claims a special connection with Pune and Maharashtra cannot be ignored.


In Latur, Kalyan clearly overshadowed the celebrity presence brought in by Ritesh Deshmukh whose brothers Amit and Dheeraj are contesting the elections. For years, the Deshmukh brothers have harnessed Ritesh’s movie and social media celebrityhood to garner crowds for rallies. But Kalyan’s reach prompted more and more BJP candidates to demand his presence as a crowd-puller.


The secret to Kalyan’s popularity and pull is in the demographics. Solapur, Nanded and Latur have a sizable number of Telugu speakers given that these districts share a common border with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Some reports estimate the population of Telugu speakers to be almost 40,000 in Nanded. In Solapur, the language, culture and cuisine reflects a confluence of Kannada, Telugu and Marathi with people effortlessly following all three languages. Food habits and culture often overlap too.


A walk through Shirdi or Trimbakeshwar will throw up boards of restaurants in Telugu just as devotees from Maharashtra make a beeline for a darshan at the Tirupati temple or the Gangapur Dattatrey Temple which falls in Karnataka. Trains from Kolhapur to cities of Karnataka bring devotees in hordes to the temple of Mahalakshmi. Major cities of Maharashtra such as Mumbai, Pune and Solapur have a sizable number of Telugu and Kannada speakers, a reflection of the shared culture and language before boundaries were drawn on the basis of linguistic representation. Cinema halls in these cities screen movies in Telugu, bringing actors like Pawan Kalyan closer to the people.

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