India nears Naxal-free milestone as security forces enter final phase

New Delhi: As the March 31 deadline approaches, Naxalism is in its last stages. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that India will be naxal-free by March this year. He said that they have two options -- surrender or be killed.

Officials say that the operations to eliminate the Naxalites have entered their final stage now. The Intelligence agencies have learnt that only two out of the four parts of the top leadership are active. In the final push, the target would be to either eliminate the top four or get them to surrender.

The four Naxalite leaders are Thippiri Tirupathi, Muppala Laxman Rao, Misir Besra, and Asim Mondal. An Intelligence Bureau official said that out of these, only Tirupathi and Besra want to take the fight forward. Rao is in no position to fight due to his age, and Mondal, too, does not appear to be interested. In all likelihood, Rao and Mondal may surrender, an official said.
Several Naxalites and their followers have urged Tirupathi to surrender, but he remains determined to carry on the fight. The current operation will primarily focus on hunting down Besra and Tirupathi, officials said.

Although there are around 200 uniformed Naxalites on the field, the primary aim of the security agencies is to nab the four leaders. This would lead to the automatic surrender of the rest who are part of this movement, officials say.

With regard to the armed cadre, the security agencies are confident of hunting them down. There is a greater chance that they will immediately surrender and are unlikely to put up a fight. Many are part of the movement, not because they subscribe to the ideology. Many have been threatened into joining the movement, while others are in it just for the money. This makes it easier to get these persons since they will not even put up a fight since they do not subscribe to the ideology, officials say.

Out of the 200 Naxalites, most of them are in Chhattisgarh, data shows. In Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Telangana, the numbers in total may be just 40 to 50, officials say.

In recent months, the Intelligence agencies had learnt that attempts were made to revive the movement. Tirupathi, who has been adamant not to surrender, tried talking to his colleagues about reviving the movement. However, this gained no traction, and the plan fell flat.

In the meantime, there was an attempt to spread the ideology once again in the urban areas. During a protest about pollution in Delhi, banners supporting the Naxalite movement had been spotted. Intelligence agencies have been warning that once the movement collapses in the jungles, every attempt would be made to keep the movement alive in the urban areas. Attempts would be made to infiltrate protests, propagate the Naxalite ideology, and then try and incite violence, the agencies have warned. A close watch is being kept on the urban elements and their activities. Officials say that their funding routes are under the scanner, and all efforts are being made to prevent money from coming in to revive the Naxalite movement.

Between 2025 and 2026, the security forces achieved a lot of success in beating down the Naxalites. While top leaders such as Basavaraj were killed, many others surrendered. At least five Politburo members survived before the security forces dealt a massive blow to the Naxal movement.

The major dent was caused following the surrender of senior leaders, Mallojula Venugopal Rao, Chandranna, Raider, and Rupesh. These were part of the Politburo and were leading the movement for a long time. Their surrender also led to scores of cadres laying down arms. In the run-up to these surrenders, the security forces also seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, which caused a further setback to the Naxalite movement, officials say.