State police declare Nuapada dist Maoist-free as 9 active naxals surrender

Bhubaneswar: Odisha police have declared Nuapada district as Maoist-free following the surrender of the region’s last nine active naxals in neighbouring Chhattisgarh on Monday.All nine, natives of Chhattisgarh with three divisional committee members (DCMs), were part of the Odisha state committee and were associated with the Dhamtari–Gariaband–Nuapada (DGN) division. Their operations spread across Nuapada district in Odisha and the Dhamtari and Gariaband areas of Chhattisgarh.Carrying a combined bounty of Rs 45 lakh, the nine Maoists — six of them women — were identified as Anju alias Kavita, Baldev alias Bamanbatti, Damru alias Mahadev, Soni, Ranjit, Parvati, Ratna, Navita and Sarupa. “As per our records, they were the last Maoists active in Nuapada, which has now become free of Naxal influence. Of them, Anju and Baldev, both DCMs, were mostly active in Nuapada,” ADG (anti-naxal operations) Sanjeeb Panda said.The development came as a significant boost for Odisha police as the Centre pushed towards its target of eliminating Left-Wing Extremism nationwide by March 31. Panda emphasised that security forces remained vigilant to prevent a relapse of Maoist influence in Nuapada.Police sources noted that several Maoists from the DGN division surrendered earlier, while at least 27 prominent cadre, including central committee leaders Chalapathi and Modem Balakrishna, were neutralised in Chhattisgarh over the past year. On Jan 21, 2025, a joint Odisha–Chhattisgarh–CRPF operation eliminated Chalapathi and 13 cadres, while Balakrishna, the Odisha secretary of state Maoist committee, was killed on Sept 11, 2025.The most significant achievement for Odisha police came on Dec 24 and 25, 2025, when six Maoists, including CC member Ganesh Uike, were gunned down in Kandhamal district.“These operations decimated Maoist influence in Odisha. Nearly 95% of the cadres here were from Chhattisgarh. Currently, only around 70 Maoists remain active in the state, with about five belonging to Odisha,” a senior police official said.