New Delhi, April 1 – Union Home Minister Amit Shah fulfilled his promise of a “Naxal-free India”. The Home Minister announced that all members of the Naxal central and state committees have been killed, arrested, or have surrendered. He said that talks are ongoing with the last active CPI (Maoist) central committee member, signaling the near-complete end of the Maoist leadership.
The "Red Corridor," once stretching from Tirupati to Nepal, has shrunk to just two districts from its peak of 126. While the iron-fist policy of the Narendra Modi government paved the way for this collapse, other factors, such as coordination, a free hand, and development, contributed to the success of this mission.
The quiet work carried out by the Intelligence agencies was a major contributor. An official said that the intelligence about the presence of Naxalites, whether commanders or foot soldiers, rarely failed since Amit Shah declared that India would be Naxalite-free by March 31, 2026.
When operations began on a large scale to eradicate this movement, one major step taken was a massive overhaul of Intelligence. The transformation was precise and was undertaken quietly. The first job that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) undertook was to activate its Intelligence wing. This wing was initially tasked with mapping every naxalite that was alive. The mapping began at the ground level, and the targets were the members of the Jan Militia, Revolutionary People’s Committees, and also the support network within the forests and villages.
Another official explained that all meetings relating to the overhaul of the Intelligence units were overseen at the top level, which was headed by the Union Home Minister. The official said that the transformation did not take place overnight. The Intelligence unit was not centralised. Instead, it was decided that each battalion would have a dedicated Intelligence unit.
Officials involved in this operation say that gathering Intelligence is no easy task. At the start, there was plenty of mistrust, and the locals were not willing to pass information. The Intelligence officials then began visiting naxal-affected villages and began building a relationship with the locals. During these interactions, the officials convinced the villagers that Naxalism was a lost cause. They reminded them of the developmental works, such as communication and roads, that the government had undertaken.
It was important to convince the villagers that it was the government which did the development works, a promise that the Naxalites had made but clearly failed to fulfill. The official added that convincing the people took some time. Such operations lasted weeks, if not months, in certain villages. Convincing the villagers was the turning point, and this resulted in actionable Intelligence. For long, the villagers were the informants for the Naxals. This had resulted in major attacks on the security forces, which were precise in nature.
The Intelligence units had managed to turn the tables, and soon they ended up providing precise information on the whereabouts and movement of the Naxalites, another official explained. He further said that almost 90 per cent of the Intelligence they received was Grade A and highly actionable.
Real-time intelligence was another game-changer. This resulted in the Naxalites failing to carry out ambushes. Earlier, the Naxalites were easily able to plant Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which led to the loss of lives of security personnel. Real-time intelligence changed all that, an Intelligence Bureau official said. This resulted in the Naxalites failing to execute, while the security agencies used the information not just to thwart attacks, but also to get to the Naxalites and eliminate them. Home Minister Amit Shah, while declaring the March 31 deadline, had told the Naxalites they should either surrender or be killed.