India, Feb. 11 -- New Delhi A day after 31 Maoists were killed in a gunfight, the single largest casualty count in a single anti-Naxal op, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai spoke to HT about the ongoing operations, the Centre's deadline to end Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), and allegations of fake encounter killings. Sai urged the Naxals to lay down arms, promised to rehabilitate them, but said that the reply for a bullet will be a bullet. Edited excerpts:

The Centre has set a deadline of March 31, 2026 to eliminate Naxalism. What is the road map for this? It has been 13 months since we came to power in the state. We took oath on December 13, 2023. The following month, Union home minister Amit Shah came to Chhattisgarh. In one of the meetings, ...