Visakhapatnam, Nov 20 : Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta on Thursday exuded confidence that Andhra Pradesh will be free from Maoists by the end of next March.

Stating that the police achieved huge success with the two encounters in Maredumilli forests in Alluri Sitharamaraju district, he said the police were taking all measures to achieve the target of making Andhra Pradesh free from left-wing extremism by March 2026 as part of the goal set by the Union Home Ministry.

Addressing a press conference at Rampachodavaram in Alluri Sitharamaraju district on Thursday, he said all the security forces were working to achieve the target.

The DGP arrived here to review the ongoing â??Operation Sambhavâ?? launched to eliminate the Maoists who entered the Maredumilli agency in the Andhra Odisha border area from neighbouring Chhattisgarh.

He termed the two encounters in Maredumilli as a major success. Thirteen Maoists, including top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma and explosives expert Metturi Joga Rao alias Tech Shankar, were killed in these encounters.

The DGP said the police also arrested 50 Maoists from five districts on November 18. All these Maoists had come to Andhra Pradesh from Chhattisgarh as part of their attempts to establish a shelter.

He reiterated the call to all the Maoists to surrender and join the national mainstream. He warned that those refusing to surrender will be either caught or neutralised.

â??There is no place for violence in Andhra Pradeshâ??, said the DGP.

The DGP clarified that CPI (Maoist) general secretary Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji is not in the police custody.

Nine members of the protection team of Devuji were among 50 Maoists arrested in five districts on November 18, hours after an encounter in the forests of Alluri Sitharamaraju district in which top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, his wife Raje and four others were killed.

A day after Hidmaâ??s killing, seven Maoists, including explosives expert Metturi Joga Rao alias Tech Shankar and six others, were killed in the same area.

Additional Director-General of Police (Intelligence) Mahesh Chandra Laddha, who briefed the DGP about the Operation Sambhav by displaying the seized weapons from the encounter sites.

Laddha had said on Wednesday that under pressure due to the operations by security forces, Maoists from Chhattisgarh are entering Andhra Pradesh to turn it into a shelter zone and that they plan to revive Maoist activity.

/IANS