Bijapur at the Crossroads: India Declares Victory Over Maoist Insurgency, Yet Ground Reality Demands Vigilance

In the dense forests of Bijapur district, security forces continue their daily, meticulous operations. With sniffer dogs and mine detectors, teams sweep roadsides in coordinated missions, starting from points 10 km apart and covering 5 km each before converging. This routine persists even as the nation celebrates a decisive victory.

Bijapur remains one of the two LWE-affected districts, alongside Sukma. The number of affected districts has sharply declined from 157 in 2006 to 38 in 2024, and now to just two. Spread across 8,529 sq km and bordering Telangana and Maharashtra, Bijapur once served as the largest recruitment ground for the Maoists’ military wing. On Tuesday, when Chhattisgarh recorded the surrender of 33 Maoists, 25 were from Bijapur alone.

Recent operations in the national park area uncovered ₹2.90 crore in cash and 7.2 kg of gold hidden by Naxals. A previous recovery last month yielded over ₹3 crore in cash and 1 kg of gold. According to an officer involved in the operation, the valuables were buried 8–9 feet underground in a steel container, identifiable only by distinctively chopped tree branches. The same forest areas were also riddled with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

Police records trace the insurgency’s origins in the region back to 1980, when Maoists entered Bastar—then part of undivided Madhya Pradesh—from Andhra Pradesh through Bijapur’s dense forests to establish a guerrilla base. With 70–80% forest cover, the district offered ideal concealment. Superintendent of Police Jitendra Yadav confirmed that Maoists had established “Janatana Sarkars” across the region, with at least 101 active units governing clusters of 3–4 villages until two years ago. Out of approximately 699 villages, 580 are inhabited. Today, no such parallel governance structures remain, though security protocols continue.

Despite the absence of organized military formations, officials warn of lingering threats. Naxalism, they stress, is an ideology that will take time to dismantle. A radicalised individual posing as a villager could still plant IEDs in retaliation. Authorities also acknowledge that not all explosive devices may have been recovered. In 2024 alone, Bijapur accounted for 734 of the 900 IEDs found in the Bastar range; this year, the number has already crossed 195. A massive de-mining exercise is underway across the district.

Simultaneously, civil administration efforts are intensifying. District Collector Sambit Mishra stated that Maoists had forced 325 schools to shut over the years; 264 have been reopened in the past two years, with more to follow. Infrastructure development is also progressing, with around 900 km of roads under construction. The Border Roads Organisation is building a 40 km stretch connecting Bijapur town to Tarem and Pamer, once Maoist strongholds.

Efforts to restore identity and access to welfare schemes are also ongoing. Many villagers in previously Maoist-controlled areas lack identity documents. Officials are trekking to remote villages to facilitate documentation and ensure access to benefits. Food distribution is being managed through tractors transporting grains to accessible points for Public Distribution System delivery.

However, the scars of conflict remain deeply etched. Bijapur witnessed the first major offensive in what officials describe as the final push against Maoist insurgency. On April 2, 2024, security forces killed 13 Naxals in the largest such operation in a decade at the time. Two weeks later, 29 more were killed in Bastar’s Kanker district by BSF personnel. This record was surpassed on February 9, 2025, when 31 Maoists were killed in a single operation in Bijapur.

A trooper involved in multiple operations over the past two years revealed a strategic shift in 2024. With BJP governments at both state and central levels and a defined deadline, operations intensified. Forces began deploying 2,000–3,000 personnel per mission, encircling Maoist units deep within forests and compelling surrenders or eliminating top القيادة. This approach originated in Bijapur.

The conflict, however, was not without civilian cost. Between 2024 and 2026, Maoists killed at least 74 civilians in Bijapur on suspicion of being police informers. This year, a villager died after accidentally stepping on an IED. Despite the decline in violence, heavy deployment continues, with over 15,000 CRPF personnel and around 4,000 Chhattisgarh police stationed in the district.

So far this year, Bijapur has witnessed eight gunfights resulting in the deaths of 13 Naxals and the surrender of 154. While authorities remain hopeful that the war is over and that Bijapur will shed its status as the most affected Naxal district, caution remains paramount.

Even during civic outreach visits, security forces travel in groups. Officials acknowledge that many villagers have lost family members in recent encounters and may harbor resentment. The possibility of retaliation, even from a single incident, poses a significant risk to the fragile stability achieved.

The war may be declared over, but in Bijapur, the path to lasting peace remains complex, measured, and fraught with caution.