Left-wing extremism was one of the biggest challenges to India's internal security and neutralisation of almost all armed cadres of the guerrilla movement means people can move around freely in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli.
As a reporter who covered some of the heinous attacks on security forces by these armed guerrillas, a visit to Gadchiroli now brings relief, given the government's assurance that the Maoist violence has been eradicated.
On May 1, 2019, as news came in of a Maoist attack in Gadchiroli's Jambhulkheda, I was assigned to cover it. We left for Nagpur immediately.
As we boarded the flight, we saw the state's Director General of Police, Subodh Jaiswal and then Minister of State in Home Department Deepak Kesarkar also taking the same flight to Nagpur. Earlier in the day, we had interviewed the police chief who had promised that the Maoists would face the full force of the law.
The Maoists had set 36 vehicles on fire, knowing well that the police would respond. The response team was the actual target.
A Quick Reaction Team left for the village and they were ambushed by the Maoists. The private vehicle they travelling in was blown up by an Improvised Explosive Device near the Lendali Nullah in Jambhulkheda.
The Naxals also stole weapons from the QRT team. One of the stolen AK-47 guns was found in September 2025, beside the body of known Maoist Sumitra Veladi. The Maoist was eliminated after a two-hour encounter in the foothills of the Abujhmad hills -- around 100 km from the 2019 attack site.
As we reached Jambhulkheda the day after the attack, we realised the extent of the impact of the explosives. Pieces of clothing were strewn around and the road had a huge cavity that made it unusable.
We chose to get off the main road and take an interior village road to head towards Dadapur village.
That's where I learnt that Milind Teltumbde was in the area and had been spotted at Dadapur a day before the attack. Others like Mannu Sulge Pallo, who had also planned the attack, were seen in the area as well.
Dadapur village was deserted. But the 30-plus vehicles the Maoists had set ablaze were still smoking. It was eerie.
We could see people watching us from slightly opened windows and my cameraperson Sanjay Mandal and I decided to start filming the damage. The Maoists here had opposed any road or construction projects to ensure that government benefits and forces not reach these remote areas of Gadchiroli.
Just beyond Dadapur village, there was a forested hill and we noticed movement in the area right above the village. That's when we knew we were perhaps going to run into the Maoists responsible for the attack.
As we approached some men coming from the hillside to get a comment, we were curtly told they did not want to speak to us.
One woman, Risubai, agreed to speak to us and one of the men in the group spoke to me off camera. He said the Maoists had drawn the police into the area and triggered the blast. They had targeted the vehicle the police were travelling in and watched the explosion from a distance. Asked if the Maoist was still around, he pointed towards the hill.
That was the same area where my cameraperson and I had noticed movement a few minutes ago.
Milind Teltumbde had held meetings in the area days prior to the attack and he was present for the attack too.
Teltumbde was finally eliminated by the police in an encounter in November 2021.
Known by his aliases 'Jeeva' and 'Deepak', Teltumbde was a hardcore Maoist who carried a bounty of Rs 50 lakh on his head. He was one of the 26 Maoists killed in an encounter and along with him other known Maoists like Lokesh alias Mangu Podiyam and Mahesh alias Shivaji Gota were also eliminated.
Teltumbde was an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case and was named in the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency.
He was known for expanding the Maoist network in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli, Gondia and Rajnandgaon and Chhattisgarh and his elimination more than two years after the Jambhulkheda attack is counted as a major success of security forces against Naxals.
