A day before the 31st March, 2026, deadline for the end of Naxalism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the Lok Sabha, and said that the Maoists had built a 50 km terror zone near the Telangana–Chhattisgarh border. Minister Shah detailed how Operation Black Forest exposed the Naxalite camp, which had ample supplies and munitions to sustain a fight against the Indian security forces for five years.
“Operation Black Forest was conducted on a hill spread over 50 km in length and 37 km in width on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border. The Naxalites had established a permanent camp there with arrangements to sustain fighting for 5 years – including weapons, solar lights, factories for making a large number of IEDs, and food grains stocked for 5 years. Besides this, 400 to 500 cadres were gathered there,” Shah said.
#WATCH | Operation Black Forest Exposed Massive Naxal Base Inside India: HM Amit Shah reveals 50 km terror zone with arms, fake IDs & 500 cadres
— Moneycontrol (@moneycontrolcom) April 1, 2026
* 50 km × 37 km fortified hill zone on Telangana–Chhattisgarh border
* Arms, supplies & solar power stocked to sustain for up to 5… pic.twitter.com/UAibrpZH5t
He added that at 45 degrees Celsius temperature, the stones on the hill would become extremely hot. Jawans would sweat 2 to 3 litres, but they did not utter a word of complaint. The operation continued for 21 days. More than 30 Maoists were killed there, while the rest were either killed in encounters with the police as they came down or surrendered. We seized the entire cache of arms and ammunition. “This operation effectively ended the Maoist movement in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh (Bastar) and Telangana. The jawans of COBRA, CRPF, DRG and Chhattisgarh Police have broken the fort of the Naxalites with inhuman patience and courage,” he said.
As reported earlier, security forces conducted ‘Operation Black Forest’ to break the backbone of Naxals near Karreguttalu Hill (KGH) at the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border. The 21-day-long operation carried out by the joint forces of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police between 21st April and 11th May neutralised 31 Naxals carrying a bounty of Rs 1.72 crore. A total of 214 Naxal hideouts and bunkers were destroyed in the operation, and a total of 450 IEDs, 818 BGL shells, 899 bundles of Codex, detonators and a huge amount of explosive material have been recovered during the searches. In addition, nearly 12,000 kilograms of food supplies have also been recovered.
