Raipur: More than 30 Maoist cadres surrendered across Bastar district in four districts on Tuesday, police said.
The authorities reiterated their appeal to the remaining Maoist cadres to renounce violence and join the mainstream, citing the limited window to avail rehabilitation benefits as the deadline set by the Union government to eliminate left-wing extremism expires on Tuesday.
In Bijapur, 25 Maoists, including 12 women, laid down their arms under the “Puna Marjim (New Road) – Rehabilitation to Rejuvenation” initiative. Cadres associated with Dandakaranya Special District Committee (DKSZC) received a cumulative bonus of $1.47 Crores. The authorities reported recovering the value of the assets $14.06 Crore, incl $2.90 crore in cash and 7.20 kg of gold, along with 93 weapons like LMGs, AK-47s, SLRs and INSAS rifles.
In Dantewada district, five Maoist cadres, including four women, surrendered under the same initiative. The cadres – identified as Some Kadti, Lakhma Oyam, Sarita Podiyam, Jogi Kalmu and Moti Oyam – were attached to the West Bastar division of the DKSZC and received a combined bonus of $9 lakh.
Based on intelligence inputs, security forces recovered 40 weapons from Maoist warehouses in Dantewada, including SLR cameras, INSAS rifles, a carbine, a .303 rifle and hand grenade launchers (BGLs).
In Sukma, two Maoist cadres, each carrying a bounty of Rs $8 thousand people surrendered as part of the “Bona Marjim” campaign. Officials said they were active as members of the company in Odisha. The security men recovered $10 lakhs in cash plus weapons like INSAS LMG, AK-47 and .303 rifles from forest dumps.
In Narayanpur district, a Maoist cadre carries a reward of Rs $1 lakh surrendered before Superintendent of Police Robinson Goria under the “Maad Bachao Abhiyan Campaign” (broadly translated as “Save Abu Jumada Campaign”). The surrendered cadre was identified as Bigelow Mandavi (26 years).
A joint operation by the District Police, District Reserve Guard (DRG), ITBP and BSF resulted in the recovery of 59 weapons, 1,856 live rounds and 581 items linked to explosives and IEDs, the police said. In addition, at least 330 hand grenade launcher (BGL) rounds were confiscated.
The seizures included detonators, about 300 meters of rope wire, more than 20 units of primary wire, more than 55 kg of explosive materials (including gunpowder, sulfur and urea), hand grenades, batteries, electronic devices and daily use items.
The operation was carried out over the past month in remote and sensitive areas with the active support of local villagers and intelligence inputs, causing significant damage to the Maoists’ logistics, arms supply and IED-making capabilities, officials said.
In Narayanpur district, 302 Maoist cadres surrendered in 2025-26 and 270 weapons were recovered, the police added.
In Kanker district, 11 Maoist cadres surrendered between March 25 and 31, including two on Tuesday.
Officials attributed the increase in surrenders to ongoing operations, intelligence-based outreach and confidence-building measures taken by security forces.
The coordinated surrenders and large-scale retakes are seen as a milestone in Bastar, which has long been affected by the Maoist insurgency, as security forces advance towards what they describe as the final phase of the campaign.
