A total of 516 automatic weapons were looted from security agencies in the Maoist-affected Bastar area between 2001 and 2024. Chhattisgarh Police has been able to recover only 21.5 percent of these. That is, a total of 111 automatic weapons have been recovered. On August 24, Home Minister Amit Shah had talked about wiping out Maoists from the state by 2026. In such a situation, the security forces have expressed doubt that the extremists having these weapons in such a large quantity may hinder the Home Minister’s announcement.
However, in the last six months of the year 2024, the highest number of weapons have been recovered in the last 20 years. But still the security forces believe that these looted weapons remain a serious challenge for the state and especially for the southern part of Bastar area. Let us tell you that on August 24, Home Minister Amit Shah had talked about wiping out the Maoists from the state by the year 2026. At the same time, a Chhattisgarh Police officer said that the Maoists have more than 400 automatic weapons looted from the security forces. These are the biggest obstacle in the announcement made by the Home Minister.
The weapons recovered include AK-47, SLR rifles, INSAS rifles, 9 and 4 mm pistols, light machine guns, BGL launchers, and locally made weapons. The largest quantity of weapons was looted from Bastar district on 15 March 2007. Apart from the loot, 55 policemen were also killed in Rani Bodli of Bijapur in this incident.
The officer has also expressed concern over the surrender of these leftist extremists, because hardly any of them have surrendered with automatic weapons. For this, he said that extremists who surrender with weapons should be encouraged. They should be encouraged by giving them jobs, financial assistance or in other ways. At the same time, an officer posted in Bastar for a long time said that these Maoists have weapons, but the lack of ammunition is a good sign for us. There is no authentic confirmation of making cartridges at home. Maybe this is the reason why these people do not directly confront the security forces in the forests.
