Bijapur: Security Forces on May 14 announced the completion of “Operation Black Forest” launched near the Karregutta Hills along the Telangana border marking a historic achievement for the forces in their fight against the red terror in the insurgency-hit state.
Briefing the media about the operational details, officials informed that a total of 31 Maoists carrying a whopping cumulative bounty of Rs 1.72 were neutralised during the three-week long operation involving thousands of personnel from separate units of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Chhattisgarh police.
The operation considered as the largest offensive ever launched against the extremists futher led to recovery of 450 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), over 800 Brigade Grenade Launchers (BGL) shells along explosive material in huge quantity.
In addition, nearly 12,000 kilograms of food supplies have also been recovered during the mega operation which witnessed complete eradication of at least four technical units associated with the production of BGL shells, homemade weapons and IEDs.
More than 210 Maoist hideouts (cave like bunkers) were also successfully located and destroyed during the campaign. These hideouts were being used as weapon manufacturing units by the Maoist’s technical department. The unearthing of these bunkers reflects the significance of Karegutta Hills for the Maoists who have been long considering it as a safe heaven.
“We are committed to fulfilling the resolve taken by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to end naxalism (Maoism) by 31st March 2026. We have recovered 31 bodies and it is an area of 1200 square kilometres, and we have information that a larger number of Naxals have been neutralised. Out of the 31 Naxalites who have been neutralised, 28 have been identified. The operation was named Operation Black Forest, and the teams of Cobra, CRPF, and Chhattisgarh police were involved in this operation. Such a huge recovery has never happened in any operation before. This is a big achievement for us,” said Director General CRPF, Gyanendra Pratap Singh.
#WATCH | Bijapur, Chhattisgarh | Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Gyanendra Pratap Singh says, "We are committed to fulfilling the resolve taken by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to end naxalism by 31st March 2026…We have recovered 31 bodies (of… https://t.co/7H3bZVlvwt pic.twitter.com/mSSsLQTnHg
— ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2025
According to details, a total of 21 occurrence of exchange of fire took place during the campaign, resulting in neutralisation of at least 31 Maoists including 16 female cadres. It is being speculated that a large number of Maoists were gunned-down during the encounters and the figures of fatalities could surge up with recovery of more bodies.
It is being assumed that majority of the Maoist neutralised during the operation belongs to People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) battalion no 1, CRC company and Telangana State Committee (TSC) of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).
A total of 18 personnel belonging to separate units of security forces sustained injuries in various IED explosions triggered by the Maoists during the operation. The injured personnel are being treated at various hospitals.
PM, Union Home Minister lauds courage of security forces
Lauding the security forces for achieving historic feet in fight against the Maoists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday in a post said “This success of the security forces shows that our campaign towards rooting out Naxalism is moving in the right direction”.
He added that “we are fully committed to establishing peace in the Naxal-affected areas and connecting them with the mainstream of development”.
सुरक्षा बलों की यह सफलता बताती है कि नक्सलवाद को जड़ से समाप्त करने की दिशा में हमारा अभियान सही दिशा में आगे बढ़ रहा है। नक्सलवाद से प्रभावित क्षेत्रों में शांति की स्थापना के साथ उन्हें विकास की मुख्यधारा से जोड़ने के लिए हम पूरी तरह से प्रतिबद्ध हैं। https://t.co/7wBmsjGBkl
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 14, 2025
Earlier Union Home Minister Amit Shah said “the Karreguttalu Hill, which was once ruled by ‘red terror’, now proudly hoists the tricolour. Karreguttalu Hill was the Unified Headquarters of major Naxal organisations like the PLGA Battalion 1, DKSZC, TSC, and CRC, where chalking out of strategies and weapon manufacturing used to take place along Naxal training”.
He emphasised that “our security forces completed the largest anti-Naxal operation in just 21 days, and it is a matter of immense pleasure that there were no casualties among the security forces during this operation”.
He further congratulated the personnel who bravely faced the Naxalites in bad weather and rugged hilly region and said that the entire country is proud of them.
#NaxalFreeBharat के संकल्प में एक ऐतिहासिक सफलता प्राप्त करते हुए सुरक्षा बलों ने नक्सलवाद के विरुद्ध अब तक के सबसे बड़े ऑपरेशन में छत्तीसगढ़-तेलंगाना सीमा के कुर्रगुट्टालू पहाड़ (KGH) पर 31 कुख्यात नक्सलियों को मार गिराया।
जिस पहाड़ पर कभी लाल आतंक का राज था, वहाँ आज शान से…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 14, 2025
Shah stressed that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are determined to eliminate Naxalism from the roots while reassuring the citizens that “Bharat will be Naxal-free by March 31, 2026”.
“Operation Black Forest”
Security forces launched a massive offensive against the Maoists after receiving intel related to several top Maoist leaders forming a unified command at Karregutta Hills, an impregnable stronghold of Maoists in Bijapur district along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border.
It was reported that several top leaders of the outlawed group took refuge at the hills after intensified operations of forces along establishment of security camps compelled them to abandon their earlier hideouts in other insurgency-hit pockets.
According to reports, the extremists were using the Karregutta Hills as their operational base and unified command since the last two and half years, where around 300-350 armed cadres of the group including the technical department and other important units affiliated with the proscribed outfit have taken shelter.
The extremely tough geographical terrain of the Karregutta Hills, stretching around 60km in length with its breadth varying from 5 to 20 km had made it difficult for the forces to navigate, providing a naturally fortified shield to the extremists.
On the basis of the inputs received about the presence of the top Maoists, the forces chalked out a comprehensive plan and a joint operation involving thousands of personnel were launched on April 21.
According to reports, emphasis was given on collecting and analysing technical and other intel gathered from human intelligence along with inputs received from intelligence agencies. Further real time intelligence were provided to the personnel carrying out the operation, enabling them to identify Maoist’s location and their hideouts along recovering IEDs and other explosive materials.
A large number of security personnel, equipment, and other logistics were reportedly mobilised in a calibrated and measured manner for smooth continuation of the operation while the real time intelligence further zeroed down the possibilities of suffering causalities during the three-week long operation.
According to the officials, the extreme weather conditions at Karregutta hills with day time temperature exceeding over 45 degrees posed severe difficulties to the personnel involved.
Full of courage and enthusiasm, the forces however achieved their objectives of the campaign which were to reduce the armed capabilities of the Maoists, neutralising the cadres of their powerful armed squads and driving them out from the extremely difficult terrain of Karregutta Hills.
It is noteworthy that the Union Government has taken a resolve to wipe out the ‘red terror’ from the country before March next year. Earlier the government announced that the districts most affected by Maoist terror in the country has reduced to 6 as compare to 35 districts reported in the year 2014.
Furthermore the forces in the recent few years have managed to erect over 300 security camps in areas earlier dominated by the banned group, putting restriction on free movement of the Maoists which enabled the administration to pace up the development work in the remote inaccessible areas.
In addition, the security forces also intensified operations in strongholds of Maoists, freeing and integrating them to the mainstream. The integrated efforts made by the security forces have also led to an increase of surrender by the local Maoist cadres.
Over 700 Maoist cadres have surrendered before the authorities in the first four-months of the year alone. This comes amidst security forces neutralising over 190 Maoists in the contemporary period, signaling continuation of the aggressive campaign against the extremists in Chhattisgarh and adjoining bordering regions.
