In a major success for Jharkhand's sustained anti-Naxal campaign, 16 Maoists, including several top commanders active in the dense Kolhan and Saranda forests as well as a squad operating in Latehar district, surrendered before the Jharkhand Police on Tuesday. The cadres laid down their arms during a ceremony at the state police headquarters in Ranchi in the presence of Director General of Police (DGP) Tadasha Mishra.
The surrender was carried out under the police headquarters' "Operation Navjeevan-II", a rehabilitation initiative by joint teams of the Jharkhand Police, CRPF, CoBRA and Jharkhand Jaguar.
According to police, the 16 surrendered Maoists comprise 11 men and five women. They include one Regional Commander (RCM), three Zonal Commanders (ZCMs), three Sub-Zonal Commanders (SZCMs), six Area Commanders (ACMs) and three squad members.
The cadres had been active in several Maoist-affected regions of Jharkhand and were allegedly involved in numerous extremist activities, which remain under investigation.
Police said the surrendered Maoists were associated with the squads led by CPI (Maoist) Politburo member Misir Besra alias Sagar Ji and Central Committee member Asim Mandal.
They were considered key commanders and members of armed strike units with extensive knowledge of the difficult terrain across the Kolhan-Saranda region.
The most prominent among those who surrendered is Santosh alias Basudev Da, a Regional Commander from Giridih district's Pirtand area. Police said he is wanted in 128 criminal cases and carried a bounty of Rs 15 lakh.
Also among the surrendered cadres are Chandan Lohra, a Zonal Commander from Khunti district's Arki police station area, who is accused in 78 cases and carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh, and Anil Turi alias Ujjwal, a Sub-Zonal Commander from Lohardaga, who is wanted in 22 cases and had a bounty of Rs 5 lakh.
Officials said that 15 of the 16 surrendered Maoists are residents of Jharkhand, belonging to West Singhbhum (Chaibasa), Latehar, Lohardaga, Hazaribagh, Khunti, Bokaro, Ranchi, Seraikela-Kharsawan and Giridih districts, while one cadre is from Sundargarh district of neighbouring Odisha. They had earlier been recruited into the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation.
During the surrender, the Maoists handed over a substantial cache of arms and ammunition to the police. The recovered weapons include six INSAS rifles, two AK-47 rifles, one HK-33 rifle, one US Carbine and one M-16 rifle, along with 38 magazines and 1,562 rounds of ammunition.
Officials termed the seizure of such a large quantity of sophisticated weapons as a significant achievement that would weaken the operational capabilities of the banned outfit.
Police also revealed that eight more members of the same Maoist network — three men and five women — are surrendering before security forces in Chhattisgarh after being influenced by similar anti-Naxal operations.
These cadres belong to zonal and area committees operating in the Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur districts of the neighbouring state.
According to the Jharkhand Police Headquarters' Media Cell, 93 Maoists have been arrested in the state so far in 2026, while 45 extremists, including the 16 who surrendered on Tuesday, have laid down arms. During the same period, 22 Maoists have been killed in encounters with security forces.
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