E-Paper
From 21 members to five in a year: Top Maoist command decimated
Security forces have neutralized 270 Maoists and recorded over 1,225 surrenders, marking a pivotal year for anti-Maoism efforts.
The leadership of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) has experienced a staggering decline this year, with its central committee (CC) members dropping from 21 to just five within the span of a single year, according to data from the Chhattisgarh Police. Officials engaged in anti-insurgency operations noted that the central committee — the highest decision-making body of the proscribed outfit — had at least 45 members in its ranks until three years ago.
The latest blow to Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) in the country came on December 25, when security forces shot dead Ganesh Uike, a member of the CPI (Maoist)’s central committee who oversaw insurgent operations in Odisha and carried a cumulative bounty of ₹1.10 crore. Uike’s demise marks the eleventh death of a Central Committee member so far this year.
“At the start of 2025 ,there were 21 CC members. Eleven were killed in gunfights across different states. Five others including their top leaders surrendered and joined the mainstream. These were people who were wanted for two, three or even four decades. Only five CC members are left now. We urge them to surrender. There is nothing left for them to fight.The security forces have covered all the vacuum areas that there were all these years. The locals are also with the security forces. It is just a matter of time before they too are traced. It is their choice,” said P Sundarraj, inspector general of the Chhattisgarh police’s Bastar Range, who is leading the operations against LWE.
Even as security forces across different states are working to end Maoism by March 31, 2026 — a deadline set by the Union government — officials said that the party has suffered its most extensive damage this year, with its top-ranking leaders arrested, killed in gunfights, or surrendering.
In the past year, security forces across Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha neutralised at least 270 Maoists, secured the surrender of more than 1,225, and arrested 680 others, including top leaders. Those killed include senior cadres such as Madvi Hidma, Nambala Keshava Rao (Basavaraju), and Central Committee members Uday (alias Gajrala Rao), Katta Ramachandra Reddy, and Kadri Satyanarayan Reddy.
According to records maintained by security forces, the five remaining members are all above 60, with the eldest, Ganpathy (also known as Mupalla Lakshman Rao or Ramanna), believed to be in his late 70s. Ganpathy was formerly the party’s general secretary and now holds the designation of a Politburo and CC member. Apart from Ganpathy, the four others are Thippiri Tirupati (alias Devji or Sudharshan), Misir Besra (aka Bhaskar), Anil Da (aka Tufan), and Mallaraji Reddy (aka Satanna). Officials, who asked not to be named, said that Ganpathy is suspected to be hiding along the borders of Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
During the peak of LWE extremism, the CPI (Maoist) maintained 40-45 CC members in its ranks.
An officer from a Central Armed Police Force engaged in LWE operations said, “There are fewer than 100-150 full-time armed cadres in the south Bastar region below the Indravati River that divides North and South Bastar. These cadres are hiding in the remote areas of Chhattisgarh and the bordering areas. In North Bastar, there may be just 10-15 cadres who refused to surrender during the mass surrender of Maoists two months ago. The CC members, who are the primary decision-making leaders of the CPI (Maoist), are in their 60s and cannot move around as much as they could a decade ago. This, combined with the loss of cadres on the ground through surrender, death, or arrest, has put them in a spot where they are fighting a lost battle.”
Among the most notable deaths of CC members this year were those of Basavaraju (killed in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur on May 21), Madvi Hidma (killed in Andhra Pradesh’s Maredumilli Mandal on November 18), and Katta Ramachandra Reddy (aka Raju) and Kadari Satyanarayan Reddy (aka Kosa) on September 22 in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur. The most notable surrenders this year were those of CC member Sujata, who was the wife of the slain Maoist leader Kishenji, and Mallujula Venugopal Rao (alias Bhupati).
