The surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao (alias Sonu), along with 60 other Maoist cadres, in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, is a significant moment in the decline of Left Wing Extremism in the country. It is, on the one hand, the result of a multi-pronged strategy to tackle what former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called “the greatest internal security threat” to India. The crackdown by security forces — both central and in states affected by LWE violence — has kept Naxals on the back foot. Over the last decade and more, LWE violence has been declining: According to the Home Ministry’s 2024 report, there was a 48 per cent drop in incidents of Maoist-related violence between 2013 and 2023 and a 65 per cent decline in related deaths, from 397 to 138. The killing of CPI (Maoist) General Secret

See Full Page