Overview
- Police in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma reported 10 Maoists surrendered on Friday, including six women with a combined ₹33 lakh bounty, handing over an AK-47, two SLRs, a Sten gun and a BGL, bringing district surrenders this year to 263.
- Bastar range data cited by officials shows 1,514 surrenders in 11 months and about 2,400 across Chhattisgarh in two years under the ‘Poona Margem’ rehabilitation initiative.
- Madhya Pradesh said two wanted cadres — Deepak (₹29 lakh) and Rohit (₹14 lakh) — surrendered in Balaghat on Thursday, after which the chief minister declared the state free of all listed MMC-zone Maoist cadres, noting 42 surrenders in 42 days.
- In Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli on Wednesday, 11 senior cadres carrying a cumulative ₹82 lakh bounty surrendered before DGP Rashmi Shukla, with four arriving in uniform; the group included divisional committee members Ramesh (Baju Lekami) and Bhima Kowasi, and took the district’s 2025 tally to 112.
- Authorities attribute the surge to security pressure and long-running rehabilitation policies — Maharashtra’s surrender scheme since 2005 and Chhattisgarh’s ‘Poona Margem’ — as Maharashtra leaders also push new outposts and development in former strongholds while reaffirming the March 31, 2026 goal.