In a rain afternoon in Bodga, a remote village in the forests of Chhattisgarh, a state in central India, quietly sits on the mud verandah of her house.
She holds a picture of her 22 -year -old son, Ramesh, who was killed in a crossfire between government forces and leftist Maoist rebels last year, known as Naxalites or Naxalites.
Naxal – was named after the village in the foothills of the Himalayas, where his armed campaign began nearly six decades ago – Chinese revolutionary leader Mao was inspired by Mao Zedong.
They follow a form of communism promoted by the MAO, and have teased a guerrilla-style extremism against the government, especially in Central and Eastern India.
Every time Oyem sees his son’s picture, his eyes are filled with tears. The day he was killed, he was converted into his memory.
Oyam remembered how his family had gathered to celebrate the naming of Ramesh’s younger daughter.
Ramesh, a millet farmer and the sole breadwinner of the family, set out for his relative’s house to bring a chicken for the evening feast. On the way, he stopped from the river to bathe.
He never returned. On the riverbank, a bullet hit him, turned a day of happiness in a day, he said.
60 -year -old Oyam told DW, “After my son’s murder, we are afraid that we leave our homes and my life has changed.” “Now the police that enters our area, hide inside their homes like me. During the encounters, our life goes to a stop.”
Oyem said, “I demanded compensation from the government for the death of my son, but there was no response.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvsljsorlhe
Oyam’s neighbor, Raje Ayam recalled a similer encounter.
He told DW that there was a storm in his house after security forces misused it for a Maoist hideout last March. He said that he was shot in the back while feeding his child, the bullet disappeared his spine.
Raje said how other villagers found him lying in a pool of blood. She survived her injuries – but a year later, she said she still struggles.
“After injuries, my body is not working. I am not able to do farming or cannot go into the forest for work,” he told DW.
“My body is almost paralyzed by injury and I am able to walk hardly.
What do Naxalites want?
The Maoist rebellion has reached deep inside the forests of India for decades. It began in Naxalbari in 1967, which was a small village in a small village in the Indian state of West Bengal on the east coast, as a Maoist-inspired rebellion, which advocated land rights and social justice for marginalized tribal communities.
Today, Naxalites claim to fight for the rights of indigenous communities of India, which is collectively known as Adivasis. Their goal is to overthrow the Indian state through armed conflict.
Government’s endgeam
The area where Bodga is located in Buster, Chhattisgarh remains heavy military.
Since 2019, around 250 security camps have been set up in the area – a bounce part that has placed an armed personnel for every nine citizens, according to A 2024 report By the Asia Indigenous People’s Pact Foundation, a Citizen Society Organization.
Security forces have intensified their operations in Bastar forests since last year. In early 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government launched Operation Black Forest (ie Operation Kagar) to eradicate the Maoist movement.
Given the hard terrain of the thesis huge forests, a large number of security personnel were deployed, as well as with advanced monitoring technologies and drones.
According to the state Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, in the last two years, there has been a period of blood for the Maoist rebels in more than a decade, with more than 400 Naxalites killed in Bastar region.
Mission to track Maoists
Earlier this month, DW reporters followed the Special Task Force, known as the District Reserve Guards (DRG), on a patrol in the Bastar region. The operation was led by DRG sub-inspector Sanjay Paul. His mission: to track the operation of Maoist in the area.
For Sanjay, operating in these forests is complex and risk. Hey, tells us that dense forests are the perfect place for Naxal fighters to ambush.
“Naxal ideology is a big threat to us and our country, we will not fulfill it, until we complete it,” Sanjay told DW.
His words echo the attitude of New Delhi. In February 2025, Indian internal minister Amit Shah appreciated the security forces for successful operations and set a time limit to end the Naxalite movement.
“I bother the nation that by March 31, 2026, India will definitely be Naxal-free,” said.
Human cost
As a heavy -business approach tightens its grip on the forest villages of Bastar, the locals are left mourning their dead.
Many people told DW that the line between the Naxal fighter and the villagers has become blurred. They accuse security forces of completing indiscriminate killings.
A bereaved father of Komhu village in Narayanpur district, Itu Oyam, a bereaved father, traveled to Bodga to meet us. He claimed that his son, Moto Oyam, was killed in a “fake encounter” by security forces in May last May, which he was in his farm.
“I want to tell the world that my son was innocent. He was not a Naxalite. What is his crime what he did?” He told DW.
Activists and human rights lawyers have alleged that the gymnastics buster is in a ward in the counter-mounted operation, where the tribal communities, which form the local population, live in constant tingling from both sides.
They claim that there is a pattern of additional judicial murders, often called “encounter killing”, where the police allegedly look like death to fight civil deaths.
A region at a crossroads
Reported in groups report as Human Rights Watch Document Arbitrary detention, forced performance and sexual violence by security forces.
According to advocate Bela Bhatia, “They have a gymnastic buster area in a cemetery, where almost every family has a story of human loss.”
When we faced DRG officer Sanjay Paul with these allegations, the police officer denied any intentional targeting of the citizens.
“Sometimes it happens by mistake. During the crossfire, citizens can die. But we do not kill the citizens,” he told DW.
Maoist rebellion, Naxal violence, and decades of the state’s cracks have left around 12,000 people – including citizens, terrorists and security personnel Latest data Watchdog from South Asia Terrorism Portal.
For Sukly Oyam, sitting with a picture of your son, justice feels like a distant dream.
“My son is gone,” he said quietly. “The police did not protect us. The Naxalites who claimed to fight for our rights did not help us. We are only plaster in the middle.”
Richard Kujur and Raunak Shivare reporting from Bastar, Chhattisgarh
Edited by: Keith Walker
