NEW DELHI: Security forces neutralised 364 Maoists last year, while 1,022 were arrested and 2,337 surrendered, the Union home ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Responding to questions on the status of Left Wing Extremism (LWE), minister of state for home Nityanand Rai said the number of districts reporting Maoist violence dropped sharply to 32 in 2025 from 61 in 2019. The number of affected police stations also fell to 119 from 245 during the same period.
Rai noted that LWE-related incidents declined by 88%, from a peak of 1,936 in 2010 to 234 in 2025. Deaths of civilians and security personnel in such incidents fell to 100 in 2025—nearly one-tenth of the fatalities recorded in 2010.
According to records accessed by The Times of India, the past year saw the killing of 12 senior Maoist leaders, including top commander Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju. Basavaraju was a politburo (PB) and central committee (CC) member. In total, 11 other CC members were killed during 2025 and early 2026. Additionally, five CC members—among them politburo member Mallojula Venugopal alias Sonu—surrendered and joined the mainstream last year.
At present, only four senior leaders remain alive or active: Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devji, the current top leader; Muppalla Laxman Rao alias Ganpathi; Misir Besra; and Malla Raji Reddy alias Sangram. Sources said Ganpathi and Sangram, both in their late 70s, have not been active in recent years.
Since 2019, improved surrender incentives have led 5,880 Maoists to abandon violence, with 40% of them—2,337—surrendering in 2025 alone. During the same period, 7,409 Maoists were arrested. Between January 1 and 15 this year, 18 Maoists were arrested and 139 surrendered.
Currently, only eight districts across three states are classified as LWE-affected, down from 126 districts in 2018.
The Centre has set a March 31, 2026 deadline to eliminate Naxalism. Rai informed the House that Rs 3,682 crore has been released to LWE-affected states for operational costs, training of security personnel, rehabilitation of surrendered cadres and ex-gratia payments to families of victims. An additional Rs 1,761 crore was sanctioned to strengthen special forces, intelligence units and police stations. Since 2014–15, central agencies have also received Rs 1,224 crore for setting up security camps and providing helicopters for counter-LWE operations.
