In a major setback for the Maoist insurgency in one of India's most affected regions, 26 Naxalites—including 13 carrying a collective bounty exceeding Rs 65 lakh—formally surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Wednesday, turning themselves in before senior police officials and personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force in a coordinated ceremony.

The surrendered group, which included seven women cadres, expressed deep disillusionment with the ideology and operations of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), while praising the effectiveness of the state government's "Poona Margem" rehabilitation initiative designed to facilitate the transition from armed rebellion to mainstream social reintegration and a peaceful life.

These individuals had been actively operating within key Maoist military formations such as the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion, as well as the South Bastar division, Maad division, and Andhra Odisha Border division, and were implicated in numerous violent incidents, including encounters, ambushes, and IED attacks across the dense Abujhmad forests of Chhattisgarh and adjacent border areas in Odisha.

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Notable among the surrenderees was Lali alias Muchaki Aayte Lakhmu, a 35-year-old female company party committee member with a Rs 10 lakh reward, who played a role in the deadly 2017 IED explosion on Koraput road in Odisha that claimed the lives of 14 security personnel; four others—Hemla Lakhma (involved in the 2020 Minpa ambush killing 17 personnel), Aasmita alias Kamlu Sanni, Rambati alias Padam Jogi, and Sundam Pale—each carried Rs 8 lakh bounties, with additional members holding rewards ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan confirmed that each of the 26 individuals received an immediate financial assistance package of Rs 50,000, with comprehensive rehabilitation support to follow in accordance with established government policy, and extended a public appeal to all remaining Maoist cadres to renounce violence, promising them full protection and the opportunity for a secure, respectable existence outside the cycle of conflict.

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