16 Maoists surrender in Jharkhand, hand over 11 weapons & 1,562 rounds

Ranchi: Jharkhand Police has achieved a major breakthrough in its anti-Naxal operations, with 16 Maoists active in the Kolhan, Saranda and Latehar regions surrendering before Director General of Police (DGP) at the Police Headquarters in Ranchi on Tuesday.

The surrender took place under Operation Navejeevan-II, a joint initiative led by Jharkhand Police along with CRPF, CoBRA and Jharkhand Jaguar. The surrendered cadres include 11 men and five women, comprising one Regional Committee Member (RCM), three Zonal Committee Members (ZCM), three Sub-Zonal Committee Members (SZCM), six Area Committee Members (ACM) and three cadre members.

The Maoists surrendered 11 sophisticated weapons, 38 magazines and 1,562 rounds of ammunition. The cache includes six INSAS rifles, two AK-47 rifles, one HK-33 rifle, one US Carbine and one M-16 rifle.

Senior police officers present at the event included ADGs Manoj Kaushik and T. Kandasamy, IGs Anoop Birthare, Saket Singh, Narendra Singh, Ajay Linda and Mayur Patel, along with several DIGs, district SPs and other senior officials.

According to police, the surrendered cadres were associated with CPI (Maoist) Politburo member Misir Besra alias Sagar Ji and Central Committee member Asim Mandal. They were part of the outfit's core combat units and were familiar with the difficult terrain of the Kolhan and Saranda forests.

Among those who surrendered, the most prominent is Regional Commander Santosh alias Basudev Da from Giridih district. Police said he is wanted in 128 criminal cases and carried a reward of Rs 15 lakh. Chandan Lohra, a Zonal Commander from Khunti with a Rs 10 lakh reward, and Anil Turi alias Ujjwal, a Sub-Zonal Commander from Lohardaga carrying a Rs 5 lakh reward, also surrendered.

Police said 15 of the surrendered Maoists are residents of Jharkhand's West Singhbhum, Latehar, Lohardaga, Hazaribagh, Khunti, Bokaro, Ranchi, Seraikela-Kharsawan and Giridih districts, while one is from Sundargarh district in Odisha.

The police also said that eight more members of the same Maoist network, including three men and five women, are surrendering in neighbouring Chhattisgarh after being influenced by sustained anti-Naxal operations.

Jharkhand Police said that in 2026, a total of 93 Maoists have been arrested, 45 have surrendered, including the latest 16, and 22 have been killed in encounters.

Earlier this year, 27 Maoist commanders and cadres surrendered on May 21. Police also arrested top Maoist commander Ravindra Ganjhu, who carried a Rs 20 lakh reward, on July 13, followed by the arrest of Ajay Mahato alias Tiger, carrying a Rs 25 lakh reward, on July 17.

Police attributed the growing number of surrenders to sustained security operations, increasing pressure on Maoist groups and dissatisfaction among cadres over internal exploitation. The force appealed to the remaining Maoists to give up violence and take advantage of the state's surrender and rehabilitation policy.