Jagdalpur, October 19: More than 200 Maoist insurgents surrendered in India’s central state of Chhattisgarh on Friday in what the government described as the largest mass surrender of rebels in the country’s decades-long left-wing insurgency.
At a ceremony in Jagdalpur, the headquarters of the Bastar district, 210 Maoist cadres from the Dandakaranya region laid down their weapons and joined the state’s rehabilitation programme, officials said. Each cadre held a copy of the Indian Constitution during the event, which the Chhattisgarh government called “historic.”
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said the surrender marked a turning point in the fight against Maoist insurgents, commonly known as Naxalites. “The youth who had strayed onto the dark path of violence have now embraced the Constitution. This is not merely a moment of surrender — it marks a new beginning of trust and transformation,” he said.
Among those who surrendered was Rupesh alias Satish, a member of the Central Committee of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Police sources said Rupesh was allegedly involved in the 2003 assassination attempt on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said that after the mass surrender, the northwestern parts of Bastar are now free of Maoist influence. He said 153 weapons, including AK-47s, SLRs, INSAS rifles, and light machine guns, were handed over by the former insurgents.
Unlike previous surrenders, the ceremony had no political presence, and the cadres were welcomed with roses by tribal community leaders, a gesture meant to symbolise that they were surrendering “before society and not the government,” a senior official said.
Rupesh and other former insurgents have presented a list of demands, including that they not be forced to join the District Reserve Guards (DRG) — a local anti-insurgency force — and that the ban on the Moolwasi Bachao Manch (MBM), a tribal organisation accused of Maoist links, be lifted.
At a press conference later, Sharma said the government would not extend the MBM ban beyond October 30 and clarified that only 10% of DRG personnel were former Maoists. He added that Maoists in custody could shift from “arrested” to “rehabilitated” status if they renounced violence.
The rebels also opposed the displacement of tribal communities by major infrastructure projects such as the long-pending Bodhghat hydroelectric and irrigation project, which could displace some 2,000 families. Sharma said decisions on such projects would follow consultations with affected communities.
Officials said the surrendering group included one Central Committee member, four Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee members, and 21 divisional-level leaders. Other prominent Maoists who joined the mainstream include Bhaskar alias Rajman Mandavi, Ranita, Raju Salam, Dhannu Vetti alias Santu, and Ratan Elam.
While the government described the event as a “surrender,” Sharma repeatedly referred to it as “rehabilitation” or “homecoming”, reflecting what officials said was the cadres’ preference to view the step as reintegration into society rather than defeat.
The Maoist insurgency, one of India’s longest-running internal security challenges, has seen a steady decline in recent years following intensified security operations and government rehabilitation schemes.
