Roses, the Constitution, and posing for cameras: As 210 Naxals lay down arms in Abujhmad, why it’s a big deal

With 210 Maoists from Chhattisgarh’s Abujhmad, also known as Maad, laying down their arms, Naxalism in the area that was once a stronghold of the rebels “is almost over”, police said. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO

Among those who laid down arms was Takkalappalli Vasudeva Rao, alias Rupesh, 59, who is known as the Maoists’ bombmaker and was a key leader of the group.

In the 1980s, Maoists from undivided Andhra Pradesh came to the Bastar region and made Abujhmad — a large and unsurveyed forest area larger than Goa — their den. For four decades since then, the Bastar region has seen the killing of thousands of villagers and security personnel.

Now, however, Vivekanand Sinha, Additional Director General of Police (Naxal Operations), told The Indian Express : “Naxalism from Maad is almost