new delhi/Raipur, March 11 -- At least 108 Maoists carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs.3.95 crore and a large cache of weapons surrendered in Bastar district on Wednesday, police said, calling it the largest-ever seizure of cash and valuables from a single Naxal hideout. The cadres, from the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit, turned themselves in at Jagdalpur, Bastar district's headquarters. Inspector general of police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said intelligence from the surrendered cadres led to the largest seizure of cash and valuables from a single Maoist hideout in the history of anti-Naxal operations in the country. The bounty included Rs.3.61 crore in cash, one kilogram of gold valued at about Rs.1.64 crore, and 101 weapons, including AK-47 rifles, INSAS rifles, SLRs, light machine guns, .303 rifles and barrel grenade launchers, dealing a major blow to the Maoists' military capability, police said. Key surrendered cadres included divisional committee members (DVCMs) Rahul Telam, Pandru Kovasi and Jhitru Oyam from West Bastar division; Ramdhar alias Biru from East Bastar division; and Mallesh from North Bastar division. Others were Muchaki, commander of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion, and Kosa Mandavi, a DVCM from the Andhra-Odisha border area. In an official statement, the Chhattisgarh Police said, "Today, March 11, 2026 (Wednesday), at the Bastar Division headquarters in Jagdalpur, a total of 108 Maoist cadres of the DKSZC (Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee) will join the mainstream of society under the initiative Poona Margem: From Rehabilitation to Rejuvenation. Notably, based on the information provided by cadres who renounced violence and joined the mainstream, along with other intelligence inputs, the largest-ever dump recovery in the history of India's anti-Naxal operations has been made." According to police data, 2,714 Maoists have surrendered in Chhattisgarh in the last 26 months, including 2,625 in Bastar division between January 1, 2024 and March 9, 2026. Union home minister Amit Shah has set March 31, 2026, as the deadline for eliminating Naxalism from the country. Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma said most paramilitary forces deployed in the Bastar region are likely to be withdrawn by March 31, 2027, following the proposed end of Maoism in the state. "March 31, 2026 has been fixed as the date for the end of armed Maoism, and it has also been decided that the forces will start returning by March 31, 2027. Some may go back even earlier," Sharma said in the state legislative assembly. At least 10 Maoist cadres, including a state committee member with a Rs.55-lakh bounty, surrendered in Odisha's Kandhamal district on Wednesday. ADGP (anti-Naxal operations) Sanjeeb Panda said all 10 cadres hailed from Chhattisgarh and surrendered with 10 arms and other ammunition. "The cadres carried a combined reward of Rs.1.15 crore," he told reporters....