With Top Maoist Ramdher's Surrender, Madhya Pradesh Almost Insurgency-Free

In what is being described as the final collapse of the Maoist structure in the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh zone (MMC), Central Committee Member Ramdher Majji, one of the most feared and powerful Maoist leaders, surrendered along with 11 top cadres in the early hours of Monday.

The surrender, which took place in Kumhi village under the jurisdiction of Bakarkatta police station, marks the biggest blow to the CPI (Maoist) after decades of operations in the region. 

Ramdher handed over his AK-47 to the police. He was accompanied by heavily armed Divisional Committee Members (DVCM) and Area Committee Members (ACM), including Chandu Usendi, Lalita, Janaki, Prem, Ramsingh Dada, and Sukesh Pottam. Six female cadres also surrendered to the police with their Indian New Small Arms System (INSAS) rifles, self-loading rifles, .303 rifles, and carbines.

Ramdher Was Left With His Own Cadre

Weeks ago, NDTV had revealed exclusive intelligence inputs that Ramdher was left with only a handful of armed cadres operating in the deep forest pockets of the MMC southern zone. Security agencies had said his group was the last remaining active armed unit of the entire MMC structure.

Sources told NDTV that the surrender of Anant, alias Vikas Nagpure, in Gondia on November 29 left Ramdher isolated. Anant had reportedly left behind four cadres to establish contact with Ramdher's group and push them toward surrender.

Madhya Pradesh Almost Maoist-Free

Ramdher's surrender came just a day after 10 hardcore Maoists carrying a collective bounty of Rs 2.36 crore surrendered in Balaghat before Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, including MMC's top leadership of the KB division. 

NDTV had earlier reported that the move would trigger the collapse of the last active group in Madhya Pradesh - Ramdher and his cadres - and within hours, it happened.

"Today is a big day for the success of anti-Naxal operations of Madhya Pradesh Police. Though Dindori and Mandla districts had already become free of left-wing extremism, today's big development will result in Balaghat district also getting majorly free of the outlaws. This speaks volumes about the success of the targeted anti-Naxal operations based on the prime principle of surrender or get eliminated and will go a long way in freeing Kanha National Park-Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh National Park-Tiger Reserve of any remnants of the Naxal cadres," the Chief Minister said. 

The ten Maoist cadres who surrendered in Balaghat on Sunday were part of the CPI (Maoist) MMC Zone's Kanha-Bhoradev (KB) division, which operated in the northern part of the zone, covering Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh and Balaghat and Mandla districts of Madhya Pradesh.

They included MMC Zone's secretary Surendra alias Kabir Sodi (50), special zonal committee member (SZCM) Rakesh Odi alias Manish, ACMs Lalsingh Marawi, Salita alias Savitri, Navin Nuppo alias Hidma, Jaisheela alias Lalita Oyam, Vikram alias Hidma Vatti, Zarina alias Jogi Musak and Samar alias Somaru.

The surrendered cadres, aged between 26 and 50 years, originally hailed from parts of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. The two SZCMs, Rakesh and Surendra, who largely led the outlaws in the northern part of the MMC Zone, were largely responsible for all past killings of villagers on the suspicion of being police informers.

With this, the Northern MMC Zone is free, Kanha National Park and Tiger Reserve are free, the Bandhavgarh landscape is secure, and the Southern MMC Zone collapses with Ramdher's surrender. 

Security officials say this is the first time in decades that the entire MMC stretch spanning three states stands effectively dismantled.

Who Was Ramdher?

Ramdher Majji, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader of the MMC Zone with a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head, was the mastermind behind multiple high-profile Maoist attacks in the region. He led the last remaining 14-member armed group operating in the southern MMC Zone and maintained strategic control over the key forest corridors used to move cadres between Rajnandgaon, Khairagarh, and Balaghat, making him one of the most influential and dangerous figures in the CPI (Maoist) network until his surrender.

 "With Ramdher's surrender, the MMC Zone, both north and south, is virtually finished. This is historic. Madhya Pradesh is now almost completely Naxal-free," police sources said.