108 Maoists surrender in Chhattisgarh; largest-ever weapons dump recovered

As many as 108 Maoists from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, carrying a combined bounty of ₹3.95 crore, surrendered before security forces on Wednesday ahead of the March 31 deadline set by the government to eliminate Maoism in India. The surrender also led to the largest recovery of a Maoist weapons dump in the history of anti-Naxal operations.

According to the Union home ministry, the group included eight divisional committee members. Most of those who surrendered were from Bijapur district (37), followed by Dantewada (30). The districts of Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur in the Bastar region remain among the last areas affected by Left-wing extremism.

Police in Bastar said the surrendered cadres provided crucial inputs that helped security forces locate and recover a massive cache of weapons, marking the biggest such seizure during anti-Maoist operations. Authorities said a detailed report on the recovered arms would be released later.

The Maoists, who belonged to the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, surrendered under the rehabilitation initiative “Poona Margem: From Rehabilitation to Rejuvenation.”

Officials also noted that only two Central Committee members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) are now wanted ahead of the deadline to end Maoist insurgency. The committee had 21 members until January 1 last year, but 19 have either surrendered or been killed in encounters. At its peak in the early 2000s, the committee had around 40–45 members.