Maoists on Back Foot : Get Killed or Surrender

On April 22, six Maoists, including three women of the South Bastar Divisional Committee (SBDVC) and Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), surrendered before Visakhapatnam Range DIG Vishal Gunni and Alluri Sitaramaraju district Superintendent of Police Tuhin Sinha.

The surrendered Maoists include Khuram Mithilesh alias Raju, a Divisional Committee Member and Secretary of Kistaram; Barse Masa, an Area Committee Member (ACM) of Kistaram; Vetti Bheema alias Raju, an ACM of Konta; Vanajam Rame alias Kamala, an ACM of Janthan Sarkar, Kistaram; and Madakam Sukki and Dudu Sony, both Party Members of Kistaram. Chhattisgarh Police had placed a reward of Rs. 19,00,000 on all six Naxalites.

Presenting the surrendered Maoists before the media, Vishal Gunni said the reasons behind the surrender of Maoist terrorists were a lack of support from locals and party activities being confined to small areas in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh borders.

The reason behind such surrenders is also the recent policies in Andhra Pradesh to assimilate communist extremists with the mainstream by enhancing the financial support offered as part of the rehabilitation package. The Naxals, who held positions in prominent committees of the extremist groups and are facing more than one criminal case, can get financial support up to 7.5 lakh on surrender.

It is evident that the Maoists are on the back-foot due to the ongoing anti-Naxal operations in different districts of Bastar division. As per records, till now, a total of 80 Maoists have been killed. Besides the encounter, more than 125 people have been arrested, while 156 have surrendered. As they have no place to go, assuming Andhra Pradesh’s policy would help them live a normal life after surrendering, they are escaping and surrendering there.

Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah has warned the Maoists and assured them that the government is committed to providing them with livelihood opportunities. However, if they choose not to surrender, the government is determined to eradicate naxalism through decisive action. He also added that Naxalism would soon be completely eradicated.

After the Home Minister’s statement regarding Naxalites, it has been made clear that either the Naxalites should surrender or they must be annihilated to death.

It is important to note that these continuous efforts of the security forces, state government, and central government have been restricting the Maoists to a confined area.

This kind of aggressiveness has effectively pressured the Maoists, leading to a decline in their activities and an increase in putting their arms up. Now, they have realised that their previous influence has been significantly curtailed by the combined efforts of these three entities.

Maoists are unable to operate and relocate themselves. Now, the time has shifted markedly from the days when Maoists routinely engaged security forces in conflict; now, they find themselves unable to retaliate against them.As a result, they have started to surrender to the police.

This understanding among the Maoists would have come way too early if the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led government had worked on eradicating left-wing terrorism properly. Anyway, seeing the pace of these anti-Naxal operations now, it is clear that one day this left-wing terrorism will come to an end.

Report by



Shomen Chandra
Intern, The Narrative