989 weapons seized or recovered from Maoists since 2020, Chhattisgarh Assembly told

989 weapons have been seized or seized from Maoists in Chhattisgarh in the last six years, the state government told the Legislative Assembly on Thursday (February 26, 2026).

The response stated that the list includes 671 weapons seized from LWE killed by security forces between January 1, 2020 and January 31, of which 238 were handed over by surrendered Maoists and 80 seized from arrested Maoists.

The responses listed many categories of weapons, from muzzle-loading rifles to BGL launchers and submachine guns, as well as assault rifles like the AK-47. The list includes 70 AK-47 rifles.

In response to a question from Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Charan Das Mahant, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who holds the Home Ministry portfolio, also told the House that 48 weapons were seized or looted from security forces by Maoists between January 1, 2019 and January 31 this year.

Read | Two Maoists, including senior leader, express willingness to surrender: Police

To date, no weapons have been stolen or looted from security forces in 2025 and 2026. This number reached its highest in 2020, when Maoists managed to acquire 19 weapons.

Mr Mahant had asked about weapons seized and looted, as well as weapons seized in clashes between 2019 and January 30. It also sought details of how many Leftists were arrested and how many were killed in police clashes between January 2020 and the date mentioned above.

In his reply, Mr. Sharma told the House that 4,340 Maoists surrendered, 3,644 were arrested and 666 were killed in the clashes during this period.

It is noteworthy that the security forces in Chhattisgarh have stepped up their operations against Maoists in the last two years, and in these operations, at least 534 Maoists were killed, 2,704 surrendered and 2,004 were arrested, most of them in the Bastar region.