A decade ago, Maoist rebels had a pressing concern—to break out of the Abujmarh forest region in Chhattisgarh that was then the core “heartland” of the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. It had been the Maoists’ home for more than three decades, but they were now spooked by fear of encirclement by security forces, and lower-level cadres had already begun deserting. The banned CPI (Maoist) thus formed a new zone—called Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC)—and set its sights on another dense forest range, the Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh, that would give them direct access to several states and a vast expanse of territory. However, MP's elite anti-Maoist unit, the Hawk Force, stood in its way. For more, watch this ground report by Mayank Kumar. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exclusive content, special privileges & more – Subscribe to ThePrint for Special benefits: https://theprint.in/subscribe/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with ThePrint » Subscribe to ThePrint: https://theprint.in/subscribe/ » Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3nCMpht » Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theprintindia » Tweet us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theprintindia » Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprintindia » Find us on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/theprint » Subscribe to ThePrint on Telegram: https://t.me/ThePrintIndia » Find us on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2NMVlnB » Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pEOta8