Naxal incidents down by 52% in Chhattisgarh in last 5 years: Govt

The basic policing of the state has succeeded in winning the public's trust and the state government's zero tolerance policy has resulted in curbing incidents of crime, state government said

The incidents of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) have declined by 52 per cent in Chhattisgarh in the last five years and 589 villages have been freed from clutches of the menace, the state government said on Monday.

The Chhattisgarh government's statement came a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar district, one of the seven districts in the Naxal-affected Bastar division.

The release said the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been working with the idea of 'Gadhbo Nava Chhattisgarh' (creating a new Chhattisgarh) and marching ahead with a three-pronged strategy of trust, security and development.

The basic policing of the state has succeeded in winning the public's trust and the state government's zero tolerance policy has resulted in curbing incidents of crime, it said.

There has been a 52 per cent decline in incidents of Naxal violence from 2018 to 2022, the release said.

As many as 314 schools which were shut for one-and-a-half decades due to Naxal violence have been reopened with the CM's initiative. Besides, 589 villages and more than 5.74 lakh people have been freed from the clutches of Naxal violence during this period, the statement said.

There has also been a 40 per cent decline in crimes against women from 2019 till now, as compared to such incidents between 2015 and 2018 in the state, it said.

To prevent crime against women, separate women police stations have been established in four districts of the state while special women cells are functioning in 455 police stations and posts, the statement said.

The state government has enacted the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act-2022 to prohibit gambling, including online, the release said.

Chhattisgarh is the only state which has been returning money to those duped by fraudulent chit fund companies, it claimed.