Hyderabad, March 7 (NationPress) In a historic move, 130 members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) have surrendered in Telangana, marking the largest surrender of its kind in the region. The event took place in front of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday.

Among those who surrendered, 125 were from Chhattisgarh, and they handed over 124 weapons at the Integrated Command Control Centre, attended by Chief Minister Reddy, Director General of Police B. Shivadhar Reddy, and other high-ranking officials.

According to the police, this significant surrender has led to the complete dissolution of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), a key faction of the CPI (Maoist).

The ranks of the surrendered Maoists include three members of the State Committee, one from the Regional Committee, ten from the Divisional Committee, 40 Area Committee members, and 76 party members.

The weapons surrendered consist of one Light Machine Gun, 31 AK-47 rifles, 21 INSAS rifles, 20 SLR rifles, 18 303 rifles, along with 33 other firearms and a total of 5,205 rounds of assorted ammunition.

Those who have returned to the mainstream include four individuals from Telangana and one from Andhra Pradesh.

Of those surrendered, there are 42 from the first battalion of the PLGA, 30 from the Telangana State Committee, 32 from the Dandakarnya Special Zonal Committee, 16 from the second CRS, and 10 from the Central Committee.

The Chief Minister stated that with this surrender, the Telangana State Committee of the banned group is now non-existent.

The DGP revealed that 250 Maoists have surrendered to the Telangana police over the last four to five months, with a total of 721 cadres relinquishing their arms since 2024.

Currently, only seven active underground members from Telangana are believed to be remaining in various formations across the country.

Emphasizing that violence has no role in a democratic society, the Chief Minister urged all remaining Maoists, including CPI (Maoist) general secretary Muppala Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapathi, to join the mainstream.

He urged them to come forward and surrender within 20 days as the government is committed to eradicating Maoism by March 31.

Reddy stated that India firmly believes that solutions to the people's issues must be pursued through peaceful and democratic avenues.

He mentioned that six high-ranking Maoists who surrendered recently indicated during a meeting on February 27 that if the state and central governments provided some guarantees, all underground members, including Ganapathi, would be willing to lay down their arms.

Following this, Reddy met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to discuss the proposals from the CPI (Maoist) Central Committee.

He communicated that the Union Minister confirmed the Maoists had indeed surrendered. After this meeting, Reddy relayed Shah's message to the Maoists.

Expressing the government's empathy towards those who surrendered, Reddy stated that they are prepared to withdraw cases where legally permissible. A committee will be established if necessary to review these cases.

The Chief Minister also assured that the government would ensure better medical services for the surrendered Maoists and that discussions regarding an enhanced financial package for them would take place soon.