Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough, as many as 41 underground cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist)—including six senior functionaries—surrendered before the Telangana Police on Friday, along with 24 firearms and ammunition.

The surrender took place in the presence of the Director General of Police, Telangana, with the cadres formally renouncing violence and declaring their decision to rejoin the mainstream.

According to police officials, those who surrendered include six cadres holding Company Platoon Committee Member (CPCM) and Divisional Committee Member (DCM) ranks, 12 cadres of Area Committee Member (ACM) and Platoon Committee Member (PCM) rank, and 23 party members.

The surrendered cadres belonged to various formations, including the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion (11), Komaram Bheem Asifabad–Mancherial Divisional Committee (2), 2nd Central Regional Command of the Telangana State Committee (5), Cherla–Shabari Area Committee (4), Platoon-33 of the South Sub-Zonal Bureau (5), South Bastar DVC (9), Darbha DVC (4) and Gangaloor Area Committee (1).

As part of the surrender process, the cadres handed over 24 firearms, 733 live rounds of ammunition of various calibres and eight BGL shells. The seized weapons include one INSAS LMG, three AK-47 rifles, five SLRs, seven INSAS rifles, one BGL gun, four .303 rifles, one single-shot rifle and two air guns. Police said the surrender of weapons has significantly weakened the operational and combat capabilities of the CPI (Maoist) in the region.

DGP B Shivadhar Reddy said the mass surrender reflects a “significant erosion in the organisational strength and morale of the CPI (Maoist).”

As per the Telangana government’s surrender and rehabilitation policy, the total eligible reward amount of Rs 1,46,30,000 will be disbursed to the surrendered cadres after completion of documentation and opening of bank accounts. An interim relief of Rs 7.25 lakh each has already been handed over to all 41 cadres, with additional benefits to follow under the state’s rehabilitation and reintegration policy.

The Telangana State Police Department assured that all entitled benefits would be extended promptly to enable the surrendered cadres to rebuild their lives with dignity and security. Police said the surrender followed an appeal made by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on October 21, 2025, urging Maoist cadres to abandon violence and return to the mainstream. In 2025 alone, a total of 509 underground Maoist cadres—including two CCMs, 11 SCMs, three DVCs, 17 DVCMs/CyPCMs and 57 ACMs/PPCMs—have surrendered before the Telangana Police, indicating a steady decline of the organisation.

The DGP once again appealed to Maoist cadres to reject the violent path adopted by their leadership, surrender their weapons and join the mainstream to lead a peaceful and dignified life with government support.