Nagpur: While the national deadline for eradication of Left-Wing Extremism ended on March 31, there are no updates on the whereabouts of six top Maoist cadres, including four women. These six are the last Maoists left in Gadchiroli, said sources.Police are not sure if they are still hiding in the dense forests near the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra-Telangana border or living secretly in nearby tribal villages. “We approached their families, visited their native places and also tried to reach out to them. They may have escaped to safer places,” said a senior official from Gadchiroli. Sources say the four women wanted to surrender long ago. But the two men — one of them a local from Gadchiroli — stopped them. They feared retaliation from their own leaders.A senior Maoist named Prabhakar, who had a big reward on his head, was the main person blocking the surrenders. He was killed in a gunfight earlier this year. His death has left the small group confused. “Now, they must decide whether to give up their guns and join the mainstream, or stay and get killed in an encounter,” said an official. Gadchiroli SP Neelotpal urged the remaining Maoists, especially the women, to surrender peacefully. “We are persuading them to join the mainstream,” he said. If they refuse, security forces will have no choice but to act strongly.Gadchiroli police are leading a big final operation deep inside the erstwhile Maoist headquarters of Abujmarh. The area was once a Maoist stronghold in the ‘Red Corridor’. Years of police action, development work, and a generous surrender policy have almost destroyed the Maoist regime in the region.The district once saw heavy Maoist violence, but things have changed fast. More than 123 hardcore Maoists have surrendered recently, including 11 top leaders in March, with a total reward of ₹68 lakh on their heads.Across Maharashtra, nearly 800 Maoists have given up under govt’s rehabilitation scheme. It offers them money, job training, and safety. Maharashtra is now very close to becoming completely Maoist-free. Gondia district has already been declared free of Maoists.
