Raipur, February 8 Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level security review meeting in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on Sunday, focusing on Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). This move came weeks before the Centre's March 31 deadline to eliminate the Maoist insurgency from the country. The meeting, held at a hotel in Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, was attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, Union Home Secretary, Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, according to the official. Directors general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), along with senior officers from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Telangana, were also present, he added. The Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, comprising seven districts, shares borders with Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha, and has long been considered the stronghold of Maoists. However, the region has witnessed intensified anti-Naxal operations in recent years, significantly weakening the extremist movement. Since January 2024, more than 500 Naxalites, including top leaders such as CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, have been killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh, while around 1,900 Naxalites were arrested and over 2,500 surrendered during the same period in the state, according to police.
Raipur, February 8 Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level security review meeting in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on Sunday, focusing on Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). This move came weeks before the Centre's March 31 deadline to eliminate the Maoist insurgency from the country. The meeting, held at a hotel in Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, was attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, Union Home Secretary, Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, according to the official. Directors general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), along with senior officers from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Telangana, were also present, he added. The Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, comprising seven districts, shares borders with Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha, and has long been considered the stronghold of Maoists. However, the region has witnessed intensified anti-Naxal operations in recent years, significantly weakening the extremist movement. Since January 2024, more than 500 Naxalites, including top leaders such as CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, have been killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh, while around 1,900 Naxalites were arrested and over 2,500 surrendered during the same period in the state, according to police.