10 Maoists surrender before CM Mohan Yadav in MP's Balaghat district
BHOPAL: In a landmark development in Madhya Pradeshs anti-Naxal operations, ten hardcore Maoist cadres, including four women, surrendered before Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav on Sunday in Balaghat district. The group, associated with the CPI (Maoist) Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC) special zone, carried a combined bounty of Rs 2.36 crore and laid down two AK-47s and two INSAS rifles at a special programme attended by the CM. Addressing journalists in Balaghat, Dr Yadav said, Today is a big day for the success of anti-Naxal operations of MP Police. Though Dindori and Mandla district had already become free of LWE, todays big development will result in Balaghat district also getting majorly free of the outlaws. This speaks volumes about the success of the targeted anti-naxal operations based on the prime principle of surrender or get eliminated and will go a long way in freeing Kanha National Park-Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh National Park-Tiger Reserve of any remnants of the naxal cadres. The ten surrendered cadres belonged to the Kanha-Bhoradev (KB) division of the MMC Zone, which operated in northern parts of the zone covering Balaghat and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh and Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh. Among them were MMC Zone secretary and special zonal committee member Surendra alias Kabir Sodi (50), SCZM Rakesh Odi alias Manish, and area committee members Lalsingh Marawi, Salita alias Savitri, Navin Nuppo alias Hidma, Jaisheela alias Lalita Oyam, Vikram alias Hidma Vatti, Zarina alias Jogi Musak, and Samar alias Somaru. The cadres, aged between 26 and 50, hailed from Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, with the two SZCMs having been linked to multiple past killings of villagers suspected of being police informers. Key sources in the state polices anti-Naxal establishment said that with this surrender, the northern part of the MMC Zone running through Kanha National Park is now free of Naxal activity. This development is expected to allow anti-Naxal camps of the MP Police and central paramilitary forces to shift focus to the southern MMC Zone, which includes the Gondia-Rajnandgaon-Balaghat (GRP) division, where 18 armed Naxals, including a 14-member group led by central committee member Ramder, are still active. The surrender comes just a day after an encounter between MP Police and Ramders group along the MP-Chhattisgarh border and 36 days after another hardcore Naxalite, Sunita, became the first cadre to surrender under the states special surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy of 2023. In 2025, MP Police also eliminated 10 hardcore Naxalites, who carried a total bounty of Rs 1.86 crore. The mass surrender in Balaghat marks the largest-ever surrender by armed Naxals in Madhya Pradesh, significantly strengthening the states efforts to curb left-wing extremism and secure sensitive areas, including Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves.
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