RANCHI, May 22 -- A total of 27 Maoists on Thursday laid down arms at the police headquarters in Ranchi in what is being billed as the "largest mass surrender" by ultras in the state. The LWE extremists surrendered under the "Operation Navjeevan" in the presence of Jharkhand DGP Tadasha Mishra, ADGP (operation), Manoj Kaushik, CRPF IG Saket Singh, IG (operation) Narendra Singh and other senior CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar and STF officials. Among the surrendered, 25 extremists are from the banned CPI (Maoist) and two from the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP, a splinter group). The surrendered Maoists are said to be part of the groups aligned with CPI(M) politburo member Misir Besra alias Sagar alias Nirbhay, who is carrying a combined bounty of Rs.2 crore on his head and his close associate Asim Mondal alias Akash alias Timir, who has Rs.1 crore award on his head. These insurgents have been active in Saranda, Kolhan and Porahat Forest divisions in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. While two surrendered JJMP extremists were active in the Gumla area. These 27 surrendered Naxalites had 426 cases pending against them in different police stations across Jharkhand and eight of them had a cumulative bounty of Rs.33 lakh on their heads. Seven special zonal committee members (SZCMs), including Sagen Angariya alias Dokol, wanted in 123 cases, Gulshan Munda, wanted in 48 cases, Nagendra Munda alias Prabhat Munda alias Mukhiya, wanted in 38 cases, Rekha Munda alias Jayanti, wanted in 18 cases, and Darshan alias Binge Hansda, wanted in 14 cases. DGP Tadasha Mishra said that the combined efforts by the security forces to eliminate extremism would continue in the state. "And the 27 surrendered Maoists will be rehabilitated with full government support," added Mishra. "We appeal to the remaining Maoists who have still not surrendered to lay down their arms, shun the path of violence. They should come back to the mainstream and avail the benefits of the state government's attractive surrender and rehabilitation policy," Saket Singh, CRPF IG, told the media on Thursday. Jharkhand ADGP (operation) Manoj Kaushik said that this was a major breakthrough toward turning the red corridor of Saranda, the headquarters of the Maoist eastern regional bureau, back into a green corridor with its rich biodiversity and status as Asia's biggest sal tree forest. "Intensive anti-Naxal operations are ongoing to free Jharkhand completely of the Naxalite menace. As part of the ongoing operations in 2026, 44 Naxalites have been arrested while 29 have surrendered to the police so far. Additionally, at least 22 Naxalites have been neutralised in encounters this year. To effectively counter the Maoist challenges in West Singhbhum, 21 new advance camp locations (ACLs) and forward operating base (FOBs) security camps have been established in the Saranda region," said Kaushik. The ADGP also confirmed that four top Maoist commanders very close to Misir Besra have surrendered in West Bengal and Telangana due to the increased pressure from anti-Naxal operations in the Saranda Kolhan and Porahat Forest divisions of West Singhbhum district. "The Maoist Jharkhand technology wing head, 61-year-old Pasunoori Narhari alias Tech Viswanth, carrying a bounty of Rs.25 lakh, and his wife Shobha alias Poonam alias Jobha have surrendered before Telangana police while Shraddha Biswas alias Bela Sarkar alias Panchami alias Sandhya alias Asha alias Dipa, carrying a bounty of Rs.15 lakh, and Madhai Patra have surrendered before the Kolkata police," a senior official said, adding that this indicates more and more Maoists are deserting Saranda now. "These Naxalites have surrendered 16 weapons, including one 5.56 mm light machine gun (LMG), four 5.56 mm INSAS rifles, nine 7.62 mm SlRs, one 303 bolt rifle and a country made pistol, along with 2,857 live cartridges. In addition, the JJMP extremists have surrendered one weapon and 130 rounds of live cartridges. They have also surrendered 27 magazines and eight walki talkies," a senior official said. Earlier, 15 Maoists from Saranda linked to Misir Besra, Asim Mondal, Patiram Majhi had surrendered before the Jharkhand police on April 11, 2024. On September 25, 2025, ten more Maoists from Saranda had surrendered in Chaibasa. Another 11 Maoists had surrendered in Chaibasa in 2022-23. On February 15, 2017, Bengal-Odisha-Jharkhand Border Committee (BOJBC) secretary Kanu Ram Munda, with Rs 25 lakh bounty, and Fogra Munda, with Rs 10 lakh bounty, had surrendered along with five more Maoists....