16 top Naxal commanders on security forces' radar

New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) Sixteen top Maoist commanders are on the radar of the security forces as part of their operational strategy to eliminate Left Wing Extremism (LWE) from the country by March 2026, official sources said.

The forces on Thursday killed 67-year-old Narasimha Chalam alias Sudhakar, a member of the Maoists' Central Committee, the topmost governing body of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), in the forests of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh.

This came a fortnight after CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju (70) was neutralised by the security forces in the Bastar region, dealing a severe blow to the banned outfit.

"A total of 16 senior Maoist commanders are now on the radar of the security forces with troops, along with the intelligence apparatus supporting them, in hot pursuit.

"This drive is part of the Union government's declaration to eliminate Naxalism from India by March 2026," a senior officer told PTI.

Once the top commanders, polit bureau members and office bearers of the central committee of Maoists are eliminated, the Naxal combat and armed wing will automatically be finished, he said.

Among the 16 central committee members (CCM) are Muppalla Laxmana Rao alias Ramanna (73), Mallojula Venugopal alias Abhay (60), Misir Besra alias Sunirmal (63), Deoji alias Chetan Deoji (62) and Ganesh Uike alias Ganeshanna (58).

The others include Madvi Hidma alias Hidmanna (52), Sujata alias Kalpana (59) and Malla Raja Reddy alias Sayanna (73).

These 16 Naxalites carry government bounties ranging from Rs 1.37 crore to Rs 40 lakh on their heads. PTI NES DIV DIV