Security personnel during an encounter with Naxalites in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli. (Representative file image)
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Dotted with hills, dense forest cover, rivers and a tropical wet-and-dry climate with dry conditions prevailing for most of the year, the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra remains vulnerable to Naxalism.
However, with over 100-plus CPI (Maoist) commanders and cadres being killed in encounters and with police and regular intelligence-based operations stepping up the heat against them in the last eight to 10 years, Maoists have been dealt a deadly blow.
Besides, in over a decade's time, hundreds of outlaws have surrendered and have been rehabilitated.
The Gadchiroli police, the elite C-60 commando team of the Anti-Naxalite Operation (ANO) and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), have constantly mounted pressure on the outlaws.
The Gadchiroli district is part of the ancient region of Dandakaranya.
However, this district of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra is part of the Red Corridor, which experiences considerable Naxalite-Maoist insurgency.
Naxalites from the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army have taken shelter in the dense forests and hills of this district.
Over the years, the outlawed Maoists have used Gadchiroli district as an oscillating point between the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and Telangana, which has been carved out of Andhra Pradesh.
The Left Wing extremism has taken a toll in this remote district, that borders Chandrapur and Gondia in Vidarbha region, which is also seeing a demand for statehood.
The July 17 incident alongside the Wandoli village on the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra boundary, in which 12 Naxalites were killed is one of the biggest in recent times.
Between April 22-23 back in 2018, more than 40 Maoists including four commanders were killed in the twin encounters in Gadchiroli district by ANO-CRPF, which so far, remains the biggest operation in terms of casualties inflicted on the Naxals.
On March 3-4, 2020, in a successful Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) against the Naxalites along the Gadchiroli border, an arms manufacturing unit was busted.
On May 21 2021, 13 outlawed Naxalites were killed in a pre-dawn encounter with police and security forces at Paydi-Kotmi jungles in Etapalli sub-division of Gadchiroli district
On October 11, 2021, five Naxals were killed during an encounter at Kosmi-Kisneli jungles of Dhanora located along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border.
Congratulating the Gadchiroli police after Wednesday’s operations, CM Eknath Shinde said that it has dealt a major blow to the Maoists.
"This will be a decisive blow to Naxalite activities in Gadchiroli district. Our policy is to give priority to development and strongly oppose violence," he said, adding that the government is determined to make Gadchiroli district completely Naxal free.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, announced a reward of Rs 51 lakhs for the Gadchiroli police for the successful operation.