India, April 6 -- Deep inside the dense Saranda forests in Jharkhand, over 3,000 CRPF CoBRA commandos from Chhattisgarh have been deployed as part of a high-stakes hunt for the last active CPI (Maoist) Central Committee member, Misir Besra. And as the elite troops turn the heat on one of the country's most wanted men, they have found support from an unlikely corner - his surviving family, estranged, but desperate to see him live.

In his late 60s, Besra, who carries a reward of Rs.1 crore and comparable bounties in nearby states, is holed up in the forest along with a clutch of loyal troops. His family has made a final appeal routed through the government, calling on him to lay down arms.

Security forces said Besra, known by the aliases ...