New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against the Naxalites by adopting a zero-tolerance policy.

After the security forces neutralised 22 Naxalites in two separate operations, the Union Home Minister said in a post on X, "Today our jawans have achieved another major success in the 'Naxalmukt Bharat Abhiyan".

He said that in two different operations by our security forces in Bijapur and Kanker, Chhattisgarh, 22 Naxals were killed. He added that the Modi government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against the Naxals and adopting a zero-tolerance policy against those Naxalites who are not surrendering despite all the facilities being offered to them, a Home Ministry statement said.

Shah said the country is set to be Naxal-free by 31st March next year.

As part of the zero-tolerance policy against Naxalism, 90 Naxals have been killed, 104 arrested, and 164 have surrendered in 2025 so far. In 2024, 290 Naxalites were neutralised, 1090 were arrested, and 881 surrendered. A total of 15 top Naxal leaders have been neutralised so far.

Between 2004 and 2014, there were a total of 16,463 incidents of Naxal violence. However, during the tenure of the Modi government from 2014 to 2024, the number of violent incidents decreased by 53 per cent, dropping to 7,744. Similarly, the number of causalities of security forces decreased by 73 per cent, from 1851 to 509, and the number of civilian causalities decreased by 70 per cent.

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y 2014, there were a total of 66 fortified police stations, but during the Modi government's tenure over the past 10 years, their number has increased to 612. Similarly, in 2014, 126 districts in the country were affected by Naxalism, but by 2024, the number of such districts has drastically reduced to only 12. In the past 5 years, a total of 302 new security camps and 68 night landing helipads have been established. UNI RBE SSP