ON October 16, 170 Naxals surrendered in Chhattisgarh and the very next day, 208 more laid down their arms. Around the same time, in Maharashtra, Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu (70), a member of the CPI (Maoist)’s Politburo, shared a warm handshake with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at a surrender ceremony. Along with him were 60 cadres. “The endgame has begun from Gadchiroli and the Red Corridor, which cuts through Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra to Jharkhand, is on the verge of being dismantled,” Fadnavis said. “This is not just a surrender, it’s a decisive blow to the backbone of Naxalism. It’s the beginning of the end of the Maoist movement,” he added.

Only nine core Central Committee members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) are now out of reach of the security forces; several

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