At least 108 Maoists carrying a cumulative bounty of ₹3.95 crore and a large cache of weapons surrendered in Bastar district on Wednesday, police said.
The cadres, from the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit, turned themselves in at Jagdalpur, Bastar district’s headquarters.
Inspector general of police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said intelligence from the surrendered cadres led to the largest seizure of cash and valuables from a single Maoist hideout in the history of anti-Naxal operations in the country.
The bounty included ₹3.61 crore in cash, one kilogram of gold valued at about ₹1.64 crore, and 101 weapons, including AK-47 rifles, INSAS rifles, SLRs, light machine guns, .303 rifles and barrel grenade launchers.
Key surrendered cadres included divisional committee members (DVCMs) Rahul Telam, Pandru Kovasi and Jhitru Oyam from West Bastar division; Ramdhar alias Biru from East Bastar division; and Mallesh from North Bastar division.
Others were Muchaki, commander of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion, and Kosa Mandavi, a DVCM from the Andhra-Odisha border area.
Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma said six of the surrendered cadres were DVCMs carrying a reward of ₹8 lakh each, while others included three company platoon committee commanders, 18 platoon party committee members, 23 area committee members and 56 party members.
Police said the large-scale surrender reflected growing disillusionment with Maoist ideology and the impact of intensified security operations in the Bastar region.
