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Fifty-one Maoists, carrying a total reward of ₹1.61 crore between them, surrendered in Sukma and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on Saturday (February 7, 2026), the police said.
Of them, 30 surrendered in Bijapur while 21 surrendered in Sukma.
Twenty-four of the surrendered Maoist cadres were women, Inspector General of Police (IGP, Bastar Range) P. Sundarraj said.
A total of 14 weapons, including AK-47 rifles, self-loading rifles, INSAS rifles, and barrel grenade launchers, were also handed over to the government by the Maoists who surrendered.
In Sukma, where 21 cadres, including 14 women, carrying a reward of ₹76 lakh had returned to the mainstream, the Naxalite organisation had suffered a major setback, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan said.
The surrendered cadres include active Maoists of the ranks of Divisional Committee Members and Area Committee Members, he added.
In Bijapur, Maoist cadres who returned to the mainstream, including 20 women and 10 men, expressed their commitment to adopt the “path of peace, dialogue, and development, distancing themselves from armed and violent ideology”, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Yadav, said.
Noting that 2,400 Maoists had surrendered in the past 24 months, Mr. Sundarraj said that the return of Maoist cadres to the mainstream in the Bastar region was a result of ongoing security operations, development work, and the government’s effective rehabilitation policy.
“This process of renouncing violence and embracing the path of peace, dialogue, and development under the ‘Poona Margham (new path): Rehabilitation to Regeneration’ campaign will further strengthen trust and stability in the region. The administration is committed to providing assistance to all willing cadres for their dignified rehabilitation into mainstream society,” Mr. Sundarraj said.
“Take the right decision, abandon the path of violence, and return to the mainstream,” the IGP urged the remaining active Maoist cadres.
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