Telangana declared Naxal free

¨     Telangana DGP B Shivadhar Reddy announced that the state is now free of armed Maoist presence after 42 cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), including PLGA commander Sodi Malla, surrendered.

¨   42 Maoists surrendered along with 36 firearms, including five AK-47 rifles, four SLR rifles, two country-made grenades, 1,007 live rounds of ammunition of various calibres, and 800 grams of gold.

¨     The DGP said police are taking the help of surrendered Maoists to detect IEDs planted by ultras in different areas and remove them.

¨     A total of 761 Maoists has surrendered to Telangana Police between 2024 and 2026, along with 302 firearms.

¨  Maoists are often referred to as Naxalites, and their ideology is a doctrine of armed insurgency designed to capture state power through rural, then urban, guerrilla warfare.