Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): For the first time in over three decades, the number of armed Naxal cadres in the Maharashtra–Madhya Pradesh–Chhattisgarh (MMC) Special Zone has fallen to single digits, officials said on Monday. The sharp decline comes after 33 surrenders in the last 10 days and around 40 surrenders in the past 38 days.
The CPI (Maoist) MMC Zone spans the border districts of the three states – including Balaghat and parts of Mandla in Madhya Pradesh, Rajnandgaon, Kanker, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki (MMA) and Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh, and Gondia in Maharashtra. Officials informed that the total surrenders by LWE cadres active for years in the MMC Zone was around 40 in the last 38 days.
Officials said less than 10 armed cadres remain in the southern MMC Zone, including the dreaded Deepak. “If these Nasalx do not surrender, they will be eliminated. Once they are with us, the armed Naxal menace — already nearly wiped out in MP after 22 surrenders on Sunday and Monday — will be history across the MMC Zone,” an officer said.
Earlier, around 40-45 armed members of three cadres of Dalams were active in two parts of the MMC Zone. Three Dalams, including Khatiya Mocha, Bhoramdev and Borla formed the Kanha-Bhoramdev Division, was active in the northern MMC Zone, which covered Balaghat and Mandla districts of MP and the neighboring Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh.
At least two Dalams – Malajkhand (including the defunct Tanda Dalam cadres) and Darre Khasa – formed the Gondia-Rajnandgaon-Balaghat (GRB) division which was the larger umbrella under which the naxal cadres armed with AK 47, INSAS assault rifles and Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGL) remained active in the southern MMC Zone.
The wave of surrenders of the naxals active in the MMC Zone – the dense forests on the tri-section of the three neighbouring states – started on November 28, when 11 Darre Khasa Dalam cadres led by the MMC Special Zonal Committee’s spokesperson, Vikas Nagpur alias Anant surrendered in Gondia (Maharashtra).
Before surrendering, Nagpure had reportedly left behind at least four armed cadres – possibly to convince the members of another Dalam, many of whom surrendered in Chhattisgarh on Monday.
.jpg)
