RAIPUR: As many as 9 Maoists, two of them carrying bounties on their head surrender before officials in Gariyaband district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Monday, January 19.
The surrender group included of 6 female cadres including Anju, a divisional committee member carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh. Another dvc member Bamanvatti alias Baldev was also among those who surrender before officials under a special initiative being run by the police.
The others were identified as Ranjit alias Govinda, Sarupa, Ratna, Damru, Navita, Parvati, and Soni alias Budhari. The group also surrendered weapons including an INSAS rifle and a Semi Loading Rifle (SLR).
The development arrived on the heels of family members of Baldev and another female Maoist, issuing a video appeal to them to return home.
The surrender by the group, marks yet another achievement for security forces who are already zeroing in on the remaining active cadres of the outlawed group in Chhattisgarh and other affected states.
A day earlier, security forces in back to back encounter neutralised 6 hardcore Maoists in National Park Area of Bijapur district. The operation, according to officials started on Saturday morning and resulted in neutralisation of 6 hardcore Naxalites including two area committee members, and a divisional member.
Meanwhile, a joint team of security personnel in a separate operation recovered a significant Maoist dump in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh. The operation launched in the forest area of Abujhmad resulted in unearthing of over 80 Brigade Grenade Launcher (BGL) shells hidden by ultras.
It is worth mentioning here, that security forces have intensified counter-insurgency operation with an aim to eliminate Maoist-insurgency from Bastar and other insurgency-hit pockets before the deadline announced by the Union Government.
Forces during anti-Maoist operations in state, including those launched in Gariyaband region near Odisha borders have neutralised nearly 300 armed Naxal cadres since January 2025. This has been followed by surrender of another 1500 Naxalites who returned to mainstream in 2025.
According to Union Government, only three districts in the country stands most-affected by red terror with another 8 Maoist-affected districts. The Union government has announced to eradicate Maoist-insurgency by March this year.
