Inside story of most-wanted Maoist commander’s surrender in Madhya Pradesh: Backchannel talks, a trusted forest guard

Shiyaz K M, Commandant of the state’s elite Hawk Force unit, which is at the forefront of anti-Maoist operations, told The Indian Express, “Kabir was a Special Zonal Committee member, and another high-ranking member [who surrendered] was Divisional Committee member Rakesh Hodi. Their group operated at Kanha National Park. It (the surrender) is a big development in the fight against Naxalism. Their group was involved in at least three encounters with the security forces this year.”

Road to surrender

The surrender was orchestrated by the Special Intelligence Unit of the Hawk Force after multiple rounds of backchannel communications. The Maoists initially contacted authorities through a trusted forest guard, eventually arriving in two batches at the Inspector General’s official bungalow in Balaghat under heavy security.

“The group had contacted us through their sources in the national park. A forest guard had been negotiating with the group and communicating their demands with us. Senior Maoist leader Vikas Nagpure, alias Navjyot, alias Anant, had surrendered last month and made a public appeal to lay down arms. That was when they made their move,” said a senior security forces source.

Sources said the rebels had initially planned to surrender in Chhattisgarh due to trust issues with Madhya Pradesh authorities. However, persistent engagement and assurances from the Hawk Force’s intelligence unit ultimately convinced them to lay down their arms in Balaghat. “We had to convince them their lives were safe in Madhya Pradesh and that the Chief Minister himself would ensure their safety was guaranteed,” said a source.

Under the Madhya Pradesh government’s surrender policy, Maoists can receive rehabilitation packages worth over Rs 35 lakh, including incentives for weapon surrender, housing subsidies, skill development training, and financial support for purchasing property and marriage.

The surrendered cadres handed over a substantial weapons cache, including two AK-47 rifles with 137 rounds, two INSAS rifles with 40 rounds, one SLR rifle with 22 rounds, and additional rifles with ammunition, grenades, detonators, and communication devices.

The 10 surrendered Maoists on Sunday participated in a formal ceremony where they publicly laid down arms before Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in Balaghat. They then personally handed over their weapons to the Chief Minister, who in exchange, handed them copies of the Constitution. The group then sang the national anthem with senior ministers and top brass of the Madhya Pradesh Police during a rehabilitation function in Balaghat.

The surrender comes in the wake of intensified operations launched after the killing of Hawk Force Inspector Ashish Sharma on Wednesday. The 32-year-old decorated officer, who held two gallantry medals and an out-of-turn promotion, was killed in an encounter near Bor Talab at the sensitive tri-junction of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh.

His death triggered a coordinated all-front response by the Hawk Force, the Madhya Pradesh Police, Maharashtra commandos, and the Chhattisgarh Police, steadily shrinking operational space for the Maoist division. Security forces have intensified their presence across Lanji, Kirnapur, Baihar, and adjoining forest belts touching Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra and Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh. They anticipated further surrenders as their operational dominance increased.

Intelligence officials characterised the capture of Kabir, Hodi, and other key Kanha-Bhoramdeo division operatives as a decisive shift in the anti-Naxal security grid.

Collapse of KB division leadership

Kabir (50) had joined the Maoist party in 1995 and spent three decades in the movement, rising through the ranks from being the bodyguard of Devuji, currently the senior-most leader remaining in the party, from 1995 to 2000, to serving as a trainer in the Dandakaranya region (2000-2003), then as military-in-charge of the Darba Division (2004-2014), before becoming secretary of the Special MMC Zone in the KB division from 2016 onwards.

His close associate, 42-year-old Hodi, joined in 2002 and has operated across Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district before moving to the KB zone in 2016. Recently, he was elevated to the position of secretary in 2025.

Both commanders hail from Chhattisgarh’s tribal belts — Kabir from Sukma district and Rakesh from areas near Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli — and their surrender represents the collapse of the KB division’s top leadership.

The other eight cadres who surrendered with them are significantly younger, ranging from 26 to 32 years old, and represent a newer generation of recruits who joined between 2011 and 2022. Most are from Bijapur and Sukma districts of Chhattisgarh, belonging to the Gond tribal community.

Samar alias Samaru alias Raju Atram (32) is the oldest among them, having joined in 2011 and served in South Bastar before moving to the KB zone in 2015. Zarina alias Jogi Musak (age unspecified) and Naveen Huppo alias Hidma (30) both joined in 2014 and served in the GRB Division before transferring to KB. The three women cadres — Salita alias Savitri Alawa (26), Jayshila alias Lalita Oyam (26), and Shilpa Huppo (26) — joined between 2017 and 2022, with Jayshila and Shilpa being the newest recruits who spent only 1-2 years in the movement before arriving in the KB division in 2023.

Rehabilitation policy

This breakthrough comes against a backdrop of struggles for Madhya Pradesh’s ambitious surrender policy. Despite having a surrender policy, not a single Maoist had laid down arms in the state in recent years until this recent wave of surrenders. The state saw its first surrender under the Madhya Pradesh Surrender, Rehabilitation and Relief Policy 2023 when 23-year-old cadre Sunita surrendered on October 31 at the Chauriya Hawk Force camp. Sunita was an armed guard of Ramder, a senior member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), and had been active across three states.

Under the Madhya Pradesh government’s surrender policy, Maoists can receive rehabilitation packages worth over Rs 35 lakh, including incentives for weapon surrender, housing subsidies, skill development training, and financial support for purchasing property and marriage.

These surrenders come at a crucial time as Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set a deadline to eliminate Maoism from the country by March 21, 2026.