The Gadchiroli encounter in which 26 members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) — including key fugitive Milind Teltumbde — were ‘neutralised’ was a severe blow to the Naxals’ urban and jungle networks in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, said authorities.
They said the death of Teltumbde, central committee member and in-charge of the newly formed Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh confluence (MMC) zone, was likely to affect the recruitment and expansion of the Maoists in this zone.
Gadchiroli SP Ankit Goyal said Teltumbde was the ‘mastermind’ behind violent and obstructionist activities and the organisation’s linchpin in establishing and expanding Maoist activity in the zone.
Pivotal figure
“Milind Teltumbde was an important figure not merely in the CPI (Maoist)’s organisation in Maharashtra but a pivotal figure in the country’s network. Likewise, two other slain Maoists, Lokesh and Mahesh Gota, were both divisional committee members (DVCMs) who terrorised the local populace and thwarted developmental work in the district and the region,” said Mr. Goyal.
He said Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh too would reap the dividends of the ‘historic’ operation as the zone was a veritable bastion for the Maoists on account of its hilly terrain and dense forests.
Officials said Teltumbde had an elaborate personal security system and moved with heavily armed bodyguards and a platoon of Maoists wherever he camped.
Authorities said given the high number of Maoists who had been laying down their arms or were killed in encounters in the past few years, the outfit’s leadership in north Gadchiroli was severely weakened and as good as finished since the past one year.
More than 40 Maoists have surrendered in Gadchiroli between 2019 and 2021.
“Six-seven years ago, only 15% of the Maoist cadre in Gadchiroli [Maharashtra] used to be from outside the State. Now, 40% are being recruited from outside Maharashtra. This clearly shows that the Maoists are not getting much response from the youth of Gadchiroli,” Mr. Goyal said.
He said the police had obtained intelligence inputs two-three days ago that a large number of Maoists had set up camp somewhere around the Gyarapatti village in Gadchiroli’s Korchi tehsil. The authorities apparently did not precisely know that Teltumbde would be among them.
Sophisticated weapons
“After analysing these inputs, we planned an operation headed by Additional SP Soumya Munde, who led teams of around 300 C-60 jawans and commenced combing operations. At around 6 a.m. on November 13, the Maoists opened fire on our teams using sophisticated weapons. Going by the intensity of the fire they kept up from their positions in the hilly areas, we estimate that 100 Maoists were present there,” Mr. Goyal said, adding that there was a likelihood of more outlaws being injured in the operation.
He said the Maoists had kept up a heavy fire for the most part of the 10-hour operation.
“They hurled grenades from an under-barrel grenade launcher (UBGL) and deployed sophisticated weapons including AK-47s, SLRs and used heavy ammunitions with the clear intention of killing policemen and inflicting heavy damage on us. However, our teams held their ground. Four jawans were injured with two of them suffering non-firearm injuries.”
He said the injured men were immediately taken out of the combat zone in a chopper and admitted to Nagpur’s Orange Hospital where all four are said to be out of danger.
