Senior MMC zone commander among 11 Maoists who surrender in Maharashtra

The surrender took place in the presence of Deputy Inspector General of Police, Gadchiroli Range, Ankit Goyal, during a special camp in Nagpur

Raipur: Eleven Maoists, including a senior commander of the Maharashtra–Madhya Pradesh–Chhattisgarh (MMC) zone, surrendered before Maharashtra’s Gondia district police on Friday, officers said.

The Maoists handed over a range of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, an SLR rifle, an INSAS rifle with magazines and rounds, a .303 rifle, single-shot firearms and detonators. (Representative photo)

The group includes Special Zonal Committee (SZC) member Anant alias Vikas, Anil and Navjot Nagpure. He was operating under multiple aliases, including Ramesh Sayanna, Bhaskar Lingavya and Ramaswamy.

A police statement said his real name is Vinod Sayanna, and he is regarded as one of the most significant figures to surrender from the MMC zone in recent years.

The surrender took place in the presence of Deputy Inspector General of Police, Gadchiroli Range, Ankit Goyal, during a special camp in Nagpur.

According to police, the Maharashtra government had announced a combined reward of ₹89 lakh for all the 11 Maoist cadres.

Police said the surrendered Maoists included divisional committee members, area committee members and members of the Anant Squad, who were active in the Darrekasa forests and surrounding areas of the Gondia–Balaghat–Rajnandgaon belt for several years.

Officers said many of the surrendered Maoists carried individual rewards ranging from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh, and that the group had been involved in various Maoist-related cases and recruitment efforts in the MMC zone.

The Maoists handed over a range of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, an SLR rifle, an INSAS rifle with magazines and rounds, a .303 rifle, single-shot firearms and detonators. Police added that the weapons would be sent for forensic analysis.

According to the Maharashtra Police, the state’s surrender and rehabilitation policy, introduced in 2005, has contributed significantly to the number of senior Maoists giving up arms.

The policy offers financial assistance, livelihood support and reintegration measures. A total of 37 Maoists have surrendered before Gondia district police so far.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Ankit Goyal said the “latest surrender marks an important setback for Maoist influence in the MMC zone and is likely to weaken their mobility and recruitment capabilities in the tri-junction region.”

He added that “each of the surrendered cadres would now undergo the rehabilitation process as per the government’s guidelines.”