Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday appreciated the success of security forces in a major anti -Naxal operation in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, where 16 Naxalites were killed and a large stock of automatic weapons was recovered.
Describing it as another decisive attack on Naxalism, Shah reiterated the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s commitment to end Naxalism by 31 March 2026.
Shah posted on X, “Another attack on Naxalism! Our security agencies killed 16 Naxalites in an operation in Sukma and recovered a huge amount of automatic weapons. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are determined to end Naxalism before 31 March 2026.”
Appealing directly to the people involved in the armed rebellion, Shah said, “My appeal to the weapons is that weapons and violence cannot change; only peace and development can bring changes.”
Officials described the encounter as one of the biggest encounters ever in Sukma, which included joint teams of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan confirmed the recovery of the bodies of 16 Naxalites from the spot and said, “Two of our soldiers were injured during the campaign, who are being taken for treatment.”
He said that security forces have also recovered large quantities of state-of-the-art weapons including AK-47 rifle, self-loading rifle (SLR) and Inas Rifle from the area. SP Chavan said, “This can be called one of the biggest encounters in Sukma so far.”
The official said that the slain Naxalites have not yet been identified.
The firing started after the joint Naxal operations launched on Friday by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). According to officials, this campaign was launched on the basis of special intelligence information regarding the presence of Naxalites in Keralapal area under Sukma police station area.
The joint team left for the search operation on March 28 and the firing has been going on intermittently since the morning of Saturday (29 March). Security forces are currently searching in depth of the encounter site and surrounding wild areas.
Sukma is one of the most affected districts in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, where many Naxalite attacks have taken place earlier.
Earlier on 22 March, Amit Shah had told in Parliament that by 31 March 2026, Naxalism will be eradicated from the country. The Union Home Minister said that between 2004 and 2014, 16,463 violent incidents took place, but this number has decreased by 53 per cent in the last ten years.
He said that 1,851 security personnel were martyred from 2004 to 2014, but the number of security personnel martyred in the last ten years has come down to 509, ie 73 percent decrease. The death toll of citizens decreased from 4,766 to 1,495, ie 70 percent decrease.
The Union Home Minister said that 11,503 km of highways were constructed in Naxal -affected areas from 2014 to 2024.
Apart from this, 20,000 km of rural roads were built. In the first phase, 2,343 mobile towers were installed and 2,545 towers were set up in the second phase. The work of installing 4,000 mobile towers is still going on. Shah said that by December 1, the entire Naxalite affected area will be equipped with mobile connectivity.
