Govt aims to dismantle Naxals’ supply module in urban areas

With the security forces having managed to break the backbone of Left-Wing Extremism, especially after last month’s Operation Black Forest, they have now shifted their focus on identifying Naxal ideologues residing in urban areas, who serve as over-ground workers for the outfit, and dismantle their network.

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According to highly placed sources, Home Minister Amit Shah is learnt to have directed security and police personnel during last week’s review meeting on the LWE in Raipur, to focus on the supply network module of Maoists in urban areas.

These OWGs function as part of the Maoists’ supply network module and provide them inputs, while living in urban and semi-urban areas, a senior official said on conditions of anonymity.

During a recent meeting, the Home Minister is said to have directed security and police officials to focus on clamping down on such modules. The core aim of the latest drive will be to investigate the role of OWGs, who are based in neighbouring towns and semi-urban centres of Chhattisgarh, and try and convince them to surrender. But if their direct involvement is found in any incident of violence, then they will be arrested, an official privy to the development told The Tribune.

In several incidents, such urban area-based OWGs have been arrested by the police, after their involvement in providing inputs to Maoists regarding violent incidents was proven after the investigation, the official further informed.

As the deadline for terminating LWE from the country by March 31, 2026, is nearing, the directive from the Centre to focus on dismantling the supply network module of Maoists in urban areas assumes even greater significance.

Security personnel say only one-third of the total force of the CPI (Maoist) now remains after a majority of their top leadership was either killed in recent years or has succumbed to injuries and old age.

As Naxals mainly operate from dense forested areas, the gradual reduction in their numbers in jungles has now made the government focus on their network in urban areas, the sources said.

Over the years, the number of LWE-affected districts have considerably reduced from 126 to 90 in April 2018, 70 in July 2021 and further to 38 in April 2024. The count of Naxalism-affected districts has also been reduced from 12 to six.

The number of districts of concern, where additional resources need to be intensively provided beyond the severely affected districts, has reduced from nine to six. The number of other LWE-affected districts has also decreased from 17 to six.