BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police on Monday said the state is now free from Naxal menace, but deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and special units will continue till next year to prevent any resurgence of Left-wing extremism (LWE).
“Nine districts remained Naxal-affected at the beginning of 2025. We have been able to eliminate the menace completely in eight districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Balangir, Boudh, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Kalahandi,” additional director general (anti-Naxal operations) Sanjeeb Panda said.
He said only a small group of about eight to nine Naxals is now active in Kandhamal district. “With the deadline for surrender over, efforts will focus on tracking down the remaining cadres to achieve complete success,” he said.
Panda said the deployment of CAPFs would continue at least till July 2027. Odisha Police along with CAPFs will keep conducting operations to ensure that Maoist activities do not regain momentum in the state.
At least six battalions each of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF) will continue to be stationed in districts such as Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Boudh, Sundargarh and Nuapada.
The banned outfit has ceased recruitment in Odisha and local support for Maoists has waned. However, the continued presence of CAPFs along with the Odisha Police’s SOG and district voluntary force (DVF) will instill a sense of security among people of areas that were once affected by LWE, he said.
Since 2025 when the country entered its final phase of operations against LWE, around 120 Maoists have surrendered in Odisha, while nine were arrested and 27 neutralised. The Naxal insurgency in Odisha began in the late 1960s and gained significant ground by the early 2000s.
Attacks on the Kalimela and Motu police stations in 2001, and on armouries in Koraput and Nayagarh districts in 2004 and 2008 respectively, served as a turning point for the state government and police. Odisha built its fight against LWE brick by brick and its success story came through various stages of learning over the last 25 years.
The SOG and SIW units were strengthened after the Nayagarh attack and anti-Naxal operations were carried out exclusively on intelligence and source-based information to inflict maximum damage on the red rebels operating in and from of the state.
In another decisive push to make major inroads into the Maoist citadel, Gurupriya Bridge was inaugurated in Swabhiman Anchal, once known as the cut-off area of Malkangiri district, in 2018.
During the long-drawn battle against Naxalism, 239 security personnel were martyred in various operations across Odisha. Of them, 142 belonged to Odisha police, CRPF 25, BSF 15, Andhra Pradesh police 38, CISF 10 and nine from Chhattisgarh Police. As many as 359 civilians were killed in the state by the Maoists.