78 Maoist cadres surrender in Chhattisgarh

16 OCTOBER 2025

The Maoist movement suffered a major setback as 78 alleged cadres, including 43 women, surrendered across three districts in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, police officers said.
The mass surrender comes close on the heels of a similar surrender in Maharashtra, where Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Bhupati, a prominent central committee member of the CPI (Maoist), and 60 cadres laid down arms in Gadchiroli district.
The formal surrender took place in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Fifty Maoists, 32 of them women, turned themselves in at a Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, said sources.
In Sukma, 27 active Maoists carrying a total bounty of ₹50 lakh surrendered before the police, said a senior officer.
These Maoists were influenced by the State government’s Chhattisgarh Naxalite Surrender Rehabilitation Policy and the Niyad Nellanar scheme, he added.
Chattisgarh government launched ‘Niyad Nellanar’ scheme in 2024 to ensure basic amenities and benefits of welfare projects reach Naxal-affected villages.
These villages will receive amenities similar to those offered by the Center’s PM-JANMAN program, which is designed to promote the socio-economic welfare of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).