The year 2025 has been eventful for the Telangana police whose efforts have shown tangible results on the ground.
This year, around 200 CPI (Maoists) group occupying different roles in the banned Left organisation have laid down their arms. Just yesterday, 22 Maoists surrendered to the Mulugu district police. They were presented before the media. Out of the 22, four held key posts while others were foot soldiers who were involved in violent incidents in the past. The surrendered members would receive financial support of Rs 4 lakhs, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 25,000, depending on their positions, as part of the rehabilitation programme.
Senior police officials of the district appealed to the Maoists to leave the movement and be a part of the democratic setup of the country. And their efforts are yielding results.
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The police department is promoting initiatives like ‘Operation Cheyutha’ and ‘Poru Kanna, Ooru Minna’ (a village is more important than the fight) which helps in the re-integration of surrendered Maoists into the society. Bhadradri-Kothagudem and Mulugu districts are the hotspots of Maoist activity. It is also here that Maoists are surrendering in large numbers.
Last week, 86 Maoists surrendered to the Telangana police. While 82 of them were from Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, four were from Mulugu district. In March this year, 64 Maoists surrendered to the police which was seen as a big victory for the security forces. In the same month, 16 Maoists followed the same path. In February, it was nine Maoists who came out of the underground.
While the spate of surrenders seems to be helping the vision of the Centre to clear Maoist insurgency by 2026, the Maoists seem to have been pushed to the backfoot. A letter, allegedly written by Abhay, a politburo member of the Maoists has been in circulation. According to its contents, the Maoists are open to peace talks with the government but laid down a few conditions for the process. A few days later, a similar letter surfaced in Chattisgarh written by a top Maoist. Both letters demanded that the operations of the security forces be halted for peace talks to begin.
A group of activists too have urged the government to consider the offer and initiate the talks. For now, it looks like the security forces and the government’s two-pronged approach of intensifying combing operations in the Maoist hotbeds and also encouraging the cadre to surrender is working effectively.
