In 2024, Maoists suffer severe setbacks in Chhattisgarh

The Maoist insurgency is at its peak in districts with poor development indicators

As of July 9, 162 Maoist deaths were reported in India in 2024. Of these, 141 deaths were reported from Chhattisgarh alone. This is among the highest number of casualties suffered by the extremists in the largely tribal State since the formation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2004.

The Maoist deaths in 2024 are the highest since 2009, when 154 insurgents were killed. That was also the year when the Indian government banned the group and launched a military offensive code-named ‘Operation Green Hunt’, involving the Central Reserve Police Force’s CoBRA force and the Chhattisgarh police in “search and comb” operations. Notably, the current spike in the number of deaths of left-wing extremists has taken place after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in the State in December 2023. Apart from 2009 and 2024, the Maoists also suffered high death tolls in 2016 and 2018.

Chart 1 shows year-wise deaths of left-wing extremists in Chhattisgarh. 

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While the Maoists have suffered more casualties in recent years, the deaths of security force personnel have come down. In 2024, 14 security force personnel died in the insurgency. The highest death toll of security forces (198) was recorded in 2007. Of them, 55 were police personnel who were killed in a massive offensive launched by the Maoists on a police base camp in Bastar.

Chart 2 shows the number of deaths of civilians, security forces, and Maoists over the years.

The number of civilian deaths during the insurgency has also been at its lowest since 2014, when 23 people were killed in Maoist attacks. The highest number of civilian deaths (184) were reported in 2006, largely in landmine attacks on vehicles or when they were caught in the crossfire between the Maoists and security forces.