AT LEAST 33 Naxalites, 17 of them carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 49 lakh, surrendered before security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Friday, police said. While 22 cadres, including nine women, turned themselves in before senior officials of the police and Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) earlier in the day, later 11 others, including two women, surrendered before police officials, they said. The surrendered cadres cited disappointment with “hollow” and “inhuman” Maoist ideology and atrocities on local tribals, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan said. The official said they were also impressed by the State Government’s ‘Niyad Nellanar’ (your good village) scheme, aimed at facilitating development works in remote villages, and the new surrender and rehabilitation policy. As many as 22 surrendered Naxalites were active in the Maad (Chhattisgarh) and Nuapada (Odisha) divisions of Maoists, he said.

 

Chavan said the cadres included Muchaki Joga (33), deputy commander in PLGA (people’s liberation guerrilla army) company no. 1 under the Maad division of Maoists, and his wife Muchaki Jogi (28), a member of the same squad, who carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh each. Among the others were Kikid Deve (30) and Manoj alias Dudhi Budhra (28), both area committee members of Maoists carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh each, he said. The official said seven surrendered cadres carried a bounty of Rs 2 lakh each, while another Naxalite carried a reward of Rs 50,000. He said the other surrendered cadres were also involved in multiple attacks on security forces.

 

The district police, District Reserve Guard (DRG), CRPF, and its elite unit CoBRA played a crucial role in their surrender, he said. The official said 11 other surrendered Naxalites were active in Badesatti village panchayat under the Phulbagdi police station limits. With this, Badesatti has become a Naxalite-free village panchayat, he said. Chavan said four of them carried a reward of Rs 2 lakh each, and one carried a bounty of Rs 50,000. Sukma panchayat declared Maoist-free: IN A major move towards Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s mission to make India free of Maoist insurgency by March 2026, Badesetti Panchayat in Sukma district has officially been declared the first Maoist-free Panchayat in Chhattisgarh. The development followed the surrender by 22 Maoists, including 11 from Badesetti alone, before the security forces on Friday.

 

This signalled a breakthrough in the government’s counter-insurgency and rehabilitation strategy. The mass surrender not only reflects a weakening of Maoist influence but also reaffirms HM Shah’s ambitious deadline as increasingly within reach. Also, in Bijapur on Friday, security forces captured a Maoists' camp in an operation. The Badesetti Panchayat, according to the new policy, will get Rs 1 crore as reward for development work. With a collective bounty of Rs 8.5 lakh on their heads, their surrender has led to Badesetti Panchayat will also get other assistances from the government in employment generation.