As many as 44 Maoists from five districts of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh surrendered before security forces on Tuesday (March 31, 2026), said a senior police officer.
The surrender led to recoveries of a large cache of arms and ammunitions apart from cash amounting to ₹3 crore and gold worth over ₹11 crore, which were displayed on Tuesday (March 31, 2026), the officer added, highlighting the significance of the date that was set by the Centre as the deadline for elimination of Maoism from the country.
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“On this decisive day of Mission 2026, 44 Maoist cadres in the Bastar range renounced the path of violence and embraced the mainstream way of life — a significant step toward peace and trust in the region,” the officer said, adding that 25 of those were in Bijapur district and 11 in Kanker district. The remaining ones were from Dantewada, Sukma and Bijapur, he added.
On the recovery of weapons and valuables from the dumps, the officer said that over the past few days, a total of 217 weapon, including light machine guns (LMGs), AK-47s, INSAS rifles, and self-loading rifles (SLRs) have been recovered from various Maoist dumps and cadres.
