Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session of Parliament in New Delhi on Monday, March 30, 2026. Photo: Sansad TV via ANI
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday (March 30, 2026) that except for one, the entire Maoist leadership has been destroyed in the last two years.
He said that at the beginning of 2024 there were 21 members of the Politburo and Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), but to date one has been arrested, seven have surrendered, 12 have been killed and a dialogue is underway with a fugitive member who is expected to surrender soon.
“So their politburo and central structure was almost completely dismantled. Our target was a Naxal-free India by March 31. The country will be informed once the whole process is formally completed, but I can say that we have become Naxal-free,” Mr Shah said in response to a debate on Maoism in the Lok Sabha.
In the last three years, 706 Maoists have been killed, 2,218 arrested and more than 4,800 cadres have surrendered.
Attacking the Congress-led UPA government, he said policemen and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel were also there before 2014, but what had changed was a clear policy and strong political will.
He said dialogue and discussion were futile with some people and force should be used against them. “Innocent citizens must be protected from their atrocities. They planted bombs in farm fields and crippled them. I have said this many times – lay down your arms, complete rehabilitation measures will be taken, but a bullet will be answered with a bullet,” he said.
He said 12 states have become part of the Red Corridor (Maoism-affected belt) and there is no rule of law. More than 12 million people lived in poverty for years and 20,000 young people were killed.
Phone tracking and drone tracking
Mr. Shah said that three instruments – dialogue, security and coordination – have been deployed in the fight against Left Wing Extremism (LWE). “Using the latest technology, we carried out precise surveillance and analyzed a large volume of phone accounts. With the help of location tracking systems, mobile phone activity data, scientific call logs, social media analysis and support from forensic and technical institutions, the Ministry of Interior led this entire operation. This success was achieved through drone surveillance, the use of satellites, imaging technology and artificial intelligence-based data analysis.”
Mr. Shah said he would like to talk about three important dates: August 10, 2019; August 24, 2024; and 31 March 2026. “On 20 August 2019, a meeting was held at the MHA in which the entire framework for police coordination, modernization, integration of reformed ex-naxalites into the police force and coordination with intelligence agencies was proposed. At that time, Chhattisgarh was ruled by an opposition party which was no longer cooperative4, Mahatrash 20 had already become free24. Without Naxal, except for one tehsil, Odisha became Naxal free and Jharkhand became Naxal free, except for one district, only Chhattisgarh remained because the Congress government there protected the Naxalites. In January 2024, our government was formed in Chhattisgarh and the very next day we announced that a joint strategy was secured, 20.24 Maoism would be eliminated from the entire country by March 31, 2026,” Mr. Shah said.
Published – 31 March 2026 0:11 AM IST
