Overview
- Those who surrendered were members of CPI (Maoist) frontal wings, including DAKMS, militia and Janatana Sarkar, according to Sukma police.
- Podiam Budhra, the DAKMS head in the Gogunda area carrying a ₹2 lakh reward, was among the 29 who laid down arms.
- Officials say the Gogunda area, once a strategic base for the Darbha division, saw its local support network weakened after the camp was established.
- Police described the group as part of the Maoists’ logistical backbone, facilitating meetings, arranging food and planting IEDs under roads and bridges.
- A day later, 52 more Naxalites surrendered in Bijapur under the same policy, adding to earlier mass defections in Dantewada and Sukma and to more than 1,500 surrenders recorded in 2025, as the Centre pursues a March 31, 2026 elimination target.