Chhattisgarh Govt Wants Maoists To Surrender IEDs To Facilitate Truce Talks
Eight CC members have been killed and one has surrendered since then, a police officer said.
Raipur: In the first response to the Maoist ceasefire offer, the Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday asked the Naxals to surrender all the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted in the jungles of Bastar in the state to facilitate the peace talks with them.
Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma who holds the home portfolio said that the press release and audio message circulated through the social media by Maoist Central Committee (CC) spokesman Abhay were found to be authentic and genuine in the probe by the police, leading his government to take it seriously.
“The truce officer by the Maoists has been taken seriously but the operation will continue as usual. If the Naxals genuinely want peace, they must stop targeting civilians and surrender all the IEDs in the designated camps. This would alone facilitate a dialogue”, Mr. Sharma told the media here.
Meanwhile, the police in Bastar on Tuesday gave more details about the Monday’s encounter in Abujhmad area under Narayanpur district in south Bastar of Chhattisgarh in which two prominent CC members were gunned down.
The two slain top Maoists, Katta Ramachandra Reddy (63), and Qadari Satyanarayan Reddy (67) had masterminded over a dozen major operations against security forces in Chhattisgarh in the last three decades, leading to the killing of 123 jawans including an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, police said.
One of them, Qadari Satyanarayan Reddy had masterminded the abduction of then Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon in 2012.
Mr. Menon was set free after remaining 12 days in Maoist custody.
Ramachandra Reddy, a native of Telangana, was linked to major attacks like the killing of 27 CRPF jawans in Narayanpur district in 2009, 22 jawans in Sukma district in Bastar in 2020 and 22 jawans in the same district in 2022.
Major attacks linked to Satyanarayan Reddy included the killing of 17 jawans in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra in 2009, 27 jawans including an IPS officer in Rajnandgaon district in 2009, and 11 jawans in Narayanpur district in 2018.
At the start of 2025, 12 CC members and five politburo members were active.
Eight CC members have been killed and one has surrendered since then, a police officer said.
“The banned CPI (Maoist) has suffered serious and irreparable losses in recent times, leaving the organization fragmented, leaderless, and directionless”, Bastar inspector general of police P Sunderraj said.