Nine Maoists surrender at a ceremony at Police headquarters in Gaschiroli in Maharashtra. (Express)Just ahead of the Centre’s March 31 deadline to eliminate Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), nine Maoist cadres surrendered at a ceremony at the police headquarters in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra on Tuesday evening.All those who surrendered from Chhattisgarh. They included Dasari alias Pide Sannu Veko (area committee member (ACM)– National Park Doctor Team, 35); Ramaji Adama Potam (ACM – Sandra local organising squad (LOS), National Park agriculture team, 40); Shanti Vanja Wadde (ACM–Indrawati LOS, 35); Manaku Maso Podyam (member—Sandra LOS, 35); Sarita Rama Velkam (member–National Park mobile political school (MOPOS), 25); Lakhmi Ayatu Kunjam (member–National Park MOPOS, 26); Rakesh Korake Majji (member–Sandra LOS, National Park, 30); and Sukki Bami Kunjam (member–Pamed Area LOS, 22)—all from Bijapur district. Nande Joga Made (member–MOPOS, Maad Area, 22), who surrendered, is from Sukma district.The cadres surrendered before the Gadchiroli police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Among them, Wadde surrendered with an AK-47 rifle and 30 live rounds, while Kunjam surrendered with a carbine rifle. The police recovered arms and materials from the Kumnar forest area along the Maharashtra–Chhattisgarh border, including an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, 57 live rounds, three walkie-talkies, four batteries, and 20 pen drives (Express)Based on information provided by the cadres, the police recovered arms and materials from the Kumnar forest area along the Maharashtra–Chhattisgarh border, including an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, 57 live rounds, three walkie-talkies, four batteries, and 20 pen drives.A joint operation by Gadchiroli and Chhattisgarh Police led to the recovery of two 7.62 SLR rifles, a single-shot weapon, 50 detonators, and other materials from the Gundapuri forest area in the National Park region.According to the police, Maoist activity in Gadchiroli is now on the verge of complete eradication. Following the surrender of senior CPI (Maoist) leader Mallojula Venugopal Rao on October 15 last year, 940 Maoist cadres across the country have laid down arms along with 569 weapons.“There is no movement of even a single armed or unarmed Maoist cadre in entire Gadchiroli district in the last 12-15 days. Still, we have the last remaining six cadres of Coy No. 10 on our record, whom we have not removed from our list, out of which five are from Chhattisgarh. We are coordinating with adjoining districts to trace their whereabouts,” Neelotpal, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police, said.Story continues below this adThe police said that the surrendered cadres include long-time members active since 2005, as well as newer recruits from recent years. Their involvement in violent incidents and cases in other states is being verified, they added.The Maharashtra government had announced rewards ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 6 lakh on the cadres. Following the surrender, they will receive rehabilitation assistance of Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 5.5 lakh each under central and state schemes, along with Rs 4 lakh as collective support for the group.Officials said the surrenders come amid intensified anti-Maoist operations. Since 2022, 166 hardcore Maoists have surrendered before the Gadchiroli police, including 132 since 2025.Senior officials from the CRPF and Gadchiroli police attended the ceremony. Ajai Kumar Sharma, DIG (Ops), CRPF; SP Neelotpal; Parvidar Singh, Commdt. 192 Bt. CRPF; Chanchal Parwana, Staff Officer, DIG office CRPF; M Ramesh, Additional SP (Ops.); Karrthik Madhira, Additional SP Aheri; Gokul Raj G, Additional SP (Admn.); and Aniket Hirde, ASP Gadchiroli were present during the ceremony.