8 hours Ago By Soumittra S Bose
GADCHIROLI : The once-unassailable Maoist headquarters in Abujmarh - spread across the rugged, forested hills straddling Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh - has fallen to security forces after 50 years of bloodshed. A fact conceded by Giridhar, a former commander of PLGA, during a conversation with TOI Tuesday. "Abujmarh is no longer an impregnable Red citadel.
The liberated zones have been smashed, commandos are conquering every inch of Dandakaranya jungles. Maoist cadre base has been practically wiped out," said the guerrilla combat strategist, who surrendered in June last year and now resides at Gadchiroli police HQ with his wife Sangita. Giridhar, who once helmed seven dalams in Gadchiroli for 28 years, saw the movement decline first-hand.
"There was a spark, a vision, and an ideology. But in today's world, change can only be ushered through democracy. Why should one tribal kill another - one in uniform, the other a Naxal? Meaningless killings find no place in history," he said.
Once a key architect of Maoist expansion, Giridhar had masterminded the 2009 ambush that killed Rajnandgaon SP Vinod Choubey. With 185 cases against him, he was instrumental in shoehorning villagers into the guerrilla force, even as younger generations drifted toward urban aspirations. "Our cadre base was fast depleting.
Police seemed friendlier with their civic actions, freebies, jobs, and promise of a better life. With education and the lure of urban dazzle, nobody wanted to join us. The youth did not want to die with a police bullet in their head," he said.
Giridhar's surrender turned the wheels of Maharashtra's anti-Maoist operations, leading to the elimination of senior members like Milind Teltumbde, Rupesh, and Bhaskar Hichami. His exit was followed by over 30 cadres returning to the mainstream. Maoists' undoing was a dovetailing of police aggression and govt outreach.
"After Union minister Amit Shah's call to wipe us out by 2026, we knew our days were numbered. Security forces' nightly operations, cordons, and carpet bombings left us clueless," added Giridhar, who narrowly escaped death twice. While Maoism in Gadchiroli is gasping for air, top leaders like Hidma, Bhupathi alias Sonu, and Prabhakar - the current Gadchiroli Maoist chief - are continuing to hold out.
Giridhar cautioned against writing its obituary just yet. "The ideology may again revive with one good leader rising up against displacement, exploitation, ostracism, and suppression. Don't take any situation for granted.
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