Maharashtra’s excellent performance in dealing with the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) remained visible through 2025. In order to push the Maoists further back in the state, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, on July 10, 2025, passed the Maharashtra Public Security Bill 2024, aimed at tackling the spread of radical Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) ideologies and CPI-Maoist influence in the state. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who introduced the bill, stated that it sought to ban individuals and organisations that promoted violence, engaged in guerrilla warfare, or attempted to destabilise the government through unlawful means. Fadnavis highlighted that the influence of the Maoist ideology had been reported in both the urban and rural regions of Maharashtra, particularly in districts like Gadchiroli and Konkan. The Bill is designed to address these threats, especially where existing laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) fall short, as UAPA is limited to direct terrorist activities. Under the new law, a three-member authority – comprising a sitting or retired High Court judge, a district magistrate, and a public prosecutor – will oversee case reviews before prosecution to ensure fair and transparent application.
On April 10, 2025, while bringing the Public Security Bill 2024, Devendra Fadnavis noted,
The law proposed by the Maharashtra government is more protective compared to those enacted by the four other states. In view of the ban on their operations in several parts of the country, many banned Maoist organisations have shifted their headquarters to Maharashtra, with their affiliated groups now operating in urban areas.
Meanwhile, according to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), 13 fatalities, two civilians, one Security Force (SF) trooper and 10 Maoists, were recorded through 2025 in Maharashtra. In 2024, there were 27 fatalities, including three civilians and 24 Maoists. 11 fatalities – five civilians and six Maoists – were recorded in 2023; while, seven fatalities – five civilians and two Maoists – were recorded in 2022. A high of 101 fatalities – 12 civilians, 52 SF personnel, and 37 Maoists – was registered in 2009, while a low of one fatality (civilian) was recorded in 2004. A total of 758 such killings – 206 civilians, 172 SF personnel, 368 Maoists and 12 in the NS category – have been registered since March 6, 2000, when SATP started documenting LWE-related violence across the country. In 2026, eight fatalities have already been recorded, including one SF trooper and seven Maoists (data till March 15, 2026).
SFs arrested 17 Maoists in 2025, in addition to nine such arrests in 2024, according to the SATP database. Since March 6, 2000, there have been 508 such arrests. Ongoing SF pressure also yielded the surrender of 103 Maoists in 2025, in addition to 19 such surrenders in 2024. There have been 415 such surrenders since March 6, 2000. On December 10, 2025, 11 senior CPI-Maoist cadres, including four ‘commanders’ with a combined bounty of INR 8.2 million, surrendered before State Police chief Rashmi Shukla in Gadchiroli District. Among the surrendered leaders were ‘divisional committee members (DVCMs)’ Ramesh aka Baju Lekami and Bhima aka Kiran Hidma Kowasi. Lekami, associated with the movement since 2004, served as president of the Edasgondi Gaon Panchayat ‘Janatana Sarkar’ (People’s Government of the Maoists) before becoming a divisional committee member in Bhamragad. Kowasi joined the Maoist ranks in 1998 and became a DVCM in 2019. Other surrendered Maoists included Poriye aka Lucky Adama Gota, Ratan aka Sanna Masu Oyam, Kamala aka Rago Iriya Veladi, Poriye aka Kumari Bhima Veladi, Ramaji aka Mura Lacchu Pungati, Sonu Podiyam aka Ajay Sanu Kato, Prakash aka Pandu Kundra Pungati, Sita aka Jaini Tonde Pallo, and Sainath Shankar Made.
Other parameters of violence also indicated a declining trend in Maoist activities in the State, as in all other Maoist-affected regions across the country. The State did not record any major incident (resulting in three or more fatalities) in 2025, as well as in 2024, 2023 and 2022. The last major incident was recorded on May 1, 2019, when at least 15 SF personnel of the C-60 Force, the Maharashtra Police counter-insurgency commando unit, and one civilian driver, were killed in an ambush by CPI-Maoist cadres, who triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on the Dadapur Road near Lendali Nullah in Jamburkheda village under Kurkheda Police Station limits in Gadchiroli District.
Further, the State did not record any incident of explosion in 2025, while one such incident of explosion was reported in 2024. On July 6, 2024, two troopers (jawans) of the C-60 troops suffered minor injuries in an IED attack by Maoists near Dodhraj Bhamragad Bridge in Gadchiroli District. The attack occurred while the C60 troops were conducting road search operations.
Incidents of exchange of fire between the rebels and SFs fell from six in 2024 to four in 2025. Overall Maoist-linked incidents fell from 35 in 2024 to 26 in 2025. Incidents of killing also fell from seven in 2024 to six in 2025.
SFs recovered arms and ammunition on seven occasions in 2025, in addition to 10 such recoveries in 2024 and six in 2023. The total number of recoveries since March 6, 2000, is 170. In the current year, three incidents of arms recovery have already been recorded (data till March 15, 2026).
The overall trend remains clearly downward. The absence of large-scale attacks, or coordinated ambushes indicates that the insurgency has lost much of its operational capability within the state.
Maoist violence in Maharashtra is almost entirely confined to Gadchiroli District. All fatalities recorded in 2025 occurred within this district, highlighting the complete marginalisation of insurgent activity elsewhere in the state. Arrests of Maoist overground workers have occasionally been reported in neighbouring districts such as Gondia, Chandrapur, and Nagpur, but these incidents primarily involve logistical networks rather than active armed units. Within Gadchiroli, insurgent activity remains concentrated in the Bhamragad-Etapalli belt, which forms part of the larger Dandakaranya Forest region extending into Chhattisgarh and Telangana. The expansion of road networks, new Police outposts, and improved communication infrastructure has significantly reduced Maoist freedom of movement in these areas. The establishment of new Security Force posts, including Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) in remote villages, has further restricted insurgent mobility.
In a significant development the Gram Panchayat of Yechali village under the Bhamragarh Taluka in Gadchiroli passed a resolution in July 2025 declaring gaonbandi – a complete ban on the entry of and support to Naxalites. A letter to this effect was formally handed over to officials at the Mannerajaram Police Station on August 7, 2025, during a Krishi Melava (agriculture fair) in the village. The villages in Bhamragarh, including Yechali, were once known as Naxalite strongholds, but for a few years now, several villages have been declaring gaonbandi. In 2024, seven tribal hamlets of Bhamragarh tehsil in the foothills of Abujhmarh also banned the CPI-Maoist from entering their villages. In February 2026, two villages (Kumurguda and Irpanar) in Bhamragarh also declared gaonbandi against the Maoists.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also played an important role in dismantling Maoist networks linked to Maharashtra. On January 2, 2025, the agency had filed a chargesheet against four persons in connection with the November 2023 killing of an alleged ‘police informer’, Dinesh Pusu Gawade, in Gadchiroli. An NIA statement noted, “They had kidnapped and killed Gawade on suspicion of being a police informer and a member of RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh].” Later in the year, on December 20, 2025, NIA arrested two absconding Maoists in connection with the Gawade murder case. The arrested accused were identified as Raghu aka Pratap aka Irpa aka Mudella aka Sailu, a resident of Nizamabad District in Telangana, and Shankar Mahaka of Gadchiroli District in Maharashtra. NIA also re-registered a case relating to a Maoist training camp conspiracy linked to the Sundaropahari region in Gadchiroli District. These investigations were part of a broader national effort to identify and dismantle the financial and logistical networks that sustain the Maoist insurgency across multiple states.
The trajectory of the Maoist insurgency in Maharashtra suggests that the movement is approaching its final phase within the state. The combination of sustained security pressure, a highly effective surrender policy, and an expanding security, administrative and welfare infrastructure in remote tribal regions has steadily eroded the organisational strength of the CPI-Maoist. On May 28, 2025, Maoist ‘commander’ Nagasu Tumareti aka Girdhar, who surrendered before the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, advised fellow cadres:
No place in the whole of India is safe for you; the fort of Abhujmadh has collapsed. Put down your weapons, surrender and live with dignity like us. Now that new youth are not joining the Maoist ranks, the Maoists are not getting the support of the people. In such a situation, the Maoists should be aware of the situation and take the right decision.
The unprecedented wave of surrenders during 2025 dealt a severe blow to the insurgent leadership structure, while the absence of major attacks demonstrates the diminishing operational capability of remaining cadres.
Nevertheless, residual threats persist. On August 11, 2025, an unnamed senior Mumbai Police officer claimed that the existence of “urban Naxals” cannot be denied, though they were being monitored. Police teams maintain strict vigil and take appropriate action, and were alert and monitoring movements of SUCH “urban Naxals”, the officer added. Earlier, on July 22, 2025, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged that “urban Naxals” from outside the state were using foreign funds to spread rumours and keep the people of Gadchiroli away from the path of development. Fadnavis cautioned that, at a time when the number of gun-wielding Naxalites was shrinking, “urban Naxalism” was on the rise: “We need to be alert about ‘urban Naxals,’ who are spreading false information.” Further, cross-border linkages with insurgent formations in neighbouring states also indicated that the risk of sporadic violence could not entirely be discounted.
Maharashtra’s continued critical gaps in strength and quality in the State Police Force meant to fight against any kind of internal challenge, remain a concern. According to the latest Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) data, as on January 1, 2024, the sanctioned strength for the States’ Police was 237,488, but only 207,035 personnel were in position, yielding a vacancy of 30,453 (12.82 percent). Police personnel per 100,000 population in Maharashtra currently stand at a sanctioned 187.07, while those actually available were 163.08. The Police/Area Ratio (number of policemen per 100 square kilometers) for Maharashtra is 67.28, marginally higher than the national average of 65.78. Both the State and national averages on the Police/Area ratio are well below their sanctioned strength, at 77.18 and 83.81, respectively. Further, of a sanctioned strength of 317 apex Indian Police Service (IPS) Officers in the State, 18 posts remained vacant. At least 11 out of 1,193 Police Stations had no telephones and 55 had no wireless/mobiles.
Looking ahead, sustained counter-insurgency operations, improved intelligence coordination, and continued socio-economic development in tribal areas would help consolidate the gains secured thus far.
If current trends continue, Maharashtra may soon emerge as one of the first states to effectively eliminate the Maoist insurgency as a significant security threat. However, vigilance will remain necessary to ensure that the hard-won stability of recent years is preserved and that the region transitions fully from conflict toward lasting peace and development.
