New Delhi: Papa Rao, one of the last most wanted senior Maoist commanders active in the Dandakaranya region, surrendered on Tuesday. He turned himself in along with his 17 team members, including seven women. They laid down their AK-47 rifles and other graded weapons.
The surrender marked a big milestone in Chhattisgarh’s fight against Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). It reflects that one of the country’s longest-running insurgencies is fizzling out amid sustained security pressure and rehabilitation efforts.
Who is Papa Rao?
Papa Rao was a member of the Dandakaranaya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) and in-charge of south Sub Zonal Bureau of Maoists. The senior Maoist operated for over two decades in the dense Indravati-Abujhmad forest belt.
It is believed that Papa Rao, also known as Mangu, joined the Naxal movement in 1997 and is a school dropout. He is between 55 and 60 years old.
Rao was one of the last main commanders of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and was behind a number of deadly attacks on security forces in south Bastar, including the Tadmetla attack in 2010, which claimed lives of 76 personnel. He was also involved in the last major attack by Naxals in January last year, in which eight security personnel and a civilian driver died in Ambeli, Bijapur. In all, Rao has reportedly 45 cases against him.
Sources said Rao had been active for nearly 25 years and was involved in multiple encounters. The Chhattisgarh government had declared a bounty of Rs 25 lakh on him.
Within the Maoist organisational set-up, Papa Rao was seen as a highly influential commander. As per officials, he had a strong hold over the organisation, and even members of his family were connected to the network over the years.
In November 2025, Papa Rao’s wife, Urmila, was among six Maoists killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. Urmila also served as the main handler of logistical supplies for the group.
With Papa Rao’s surrender, no major Maoist gang remains operational in Chhattisgarh now.
What does official data say
As per official data on LWE, more than 10,000 cadres have surrendered across the country since 2014, with 2,300 laying down arms in 2025 alone. In the first three months of 2026, more than 630 have surrendered, the data indicated. Officials told PTI that the surrenders go a long way to show that there has been steep fall in the organisational morale within the Maoist ranks, particularly active in Chhattisgarh and Telangana, where hundreds of cadres have chosen to give up arms in the past year.
The surrender of Papa Rao comes just a week ahead of the Central government’s March 31 deadline to wipe out LWE.