Maharashtra Declared Free From Active Armed Maoists; C-60 Founder Honoured

Maharashtra has been declared free from active armed Maoism, with no armed Maoists remaining on the state's records. The announcement came after Gadchiroli district became free from armed Maoist cadres in May 2026. The Maharashtra Police made the declaration during a programme at the Director General of Police office in Mumbai, where K.P. Raghuvanshi, IPS (Retd.), founder of the C-60 force, was felicitated.

Raghuvanshi established the C-60 force on December 1, 1990, with 60 selected personnel to counter the Maoist threat in Gadchiroli. His approach involved recruiting local youth familiar with terrain and fluent in local languages like Gondi and Madiya. By 2009-10, Gadchiroli had 379 active armed Maoists, but sustained operations gradually eliminated the threat. The state police programme also served as a gathering for senior officers who previously served in the Gadchiroli Range.