Indian security forces have recovered substantial CPI-Maoist arms, ammunition, and explosives from at least 45 hidden caches since the Union Government’s March 31, 2026, deadline for eliminating Left Wing Extremism. These persistent recoveries across states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha reveal that the insurgency's material infrastructure remains active despite severe degradation of its organizational structure.
Historically, the Maoist movement relied on highly compartmentalised local committees to bury weapons like INSAS and SLR rifles in waterproof forest dumps. This decentralised storage strategy allows residual cadres and splinter groups like the People's Liberation Front of India to retain latent mobilisation capabilities. To counter this, the Odisha State Police recently initiated inter-state coordination to trace 1,540 weapons looted since 1992, highlighting the cross-border nature of the threat. Complete stabilisation now requires transitioning to a structured disarmament strategy that mandates full disclosure of caches as a precondition for rehabilitation benefits.