On September 11, 2025, during an anti-Maoist operation in the forested area under the Mainpur police station limits of Gariaband district, Chhattisgarh, security forces engaged in a fierce encounter with Maoist cadres.

The operation involved personnel from the Special Task Force (STF), Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), an elite unit of the CRPF, and other state police units.

The firefight was intermittent and intense, resulting in the death of ten Maoists, including a notorious Maoist leader named Modem Balakrishna, also known as Manoj, who was among the cadres neutralized in this confrontation. The terrain of rolling hills and dense woodlands of Gariaband has been a known stronghold of Maoist insurgents, making such operations critical for security forces.

Separately on the same day, 16 Maoists, all lower-rung cadres, surrendered voluntarily in Narayanpur district before senior police officials. These cadres belonged to various Maoist units including Janatana Sarkar, Chetna Natya Mandli, and panchayat militia groups.

Their surrender was attributed to growing disillusionment with what they described as the "hollow" Maoist ideology, internal factionalism within the banned outfit, and protests against atrocities committed by Maoists on innocent tribal populations.

During interrogation, the surrendered cadres revealed that the top Maoist leaders are considered the "real enemies" of the tribals, exploiting them under false promises of protecting their rights to land, water, and forests.

They also exposed severe exploitation of lower cadres, with local fighters treated as personal slaves and women cadres facing even worse conditions. Despite their relatively low rank in the Maoist hierarchy, these cadres played essential support roles such as supplying rations and medicine, transporting weapons, planting IEDs, conducting reconnaissance on security forces, and gathering intelligence, significantly aiding the insurgency's sustenance.

The local police have provided financial assistance of ₹50,000 each to all surrendered Maoists and plan their further rehabilitation under government policies aimed at reintegrating former insurgents.

The surrender of these cadres and the killing of key Maoist figures like Modem Balakrishna are viewed as critical blows to Maoist operations in these districts. The central government maintains its goal to eliminate Naxalism in India by March 2026, pursuing both intensified security operations and rehabilitation initiatives.

This series of events illustrates ongoing efforts and partial successes in Chhattisgarh’s struggle against Maoist insurgency, highlighting both militarized action in areas like Gariaband and strategic disarmament through surrender and rehabilitation in Narayanpur.

The situation remains dynamic with intermittent clashes and the continuing challenge of addressing insurgency amid tribal grievances and exploitation narratives. The involvement of specialized units such as CoBRA and STF underscores the operational intensity and the priority given to anti-Maoist campaigns in this region.

Based On A PTI Report