Why Misir Besra’s arrest could mark the end of the Maoist insurgency

The arrest of senior Communist Party of India (Maoist) Politburo member Misir Besra in Jharkhand marks the culmination of one of India’s longest counter-insurgency campaigns. For nearly four decades, Besra remained one of the organisation’s most influential leaders in the Jharkhand-Bihar region, surviving repeated security offensives even as the rest of the Maoist leadership was steadily eliminated through encounters, arrests, and surrenders. With his arrest, the CPI (Maoist) has effectively lost the last active member of the leadership that built the organisation into a nationwide insurgent force.Born into a Santhal Adivasi family in Madnadih village of Jharkhand’s Giridih district, Misir Besra studied in Dhanbad before completing graduation and postgraduation in political science at Rajg