Senior Naxal Commander Papa Rao Surrenders hunt on for Top Maoist Leaders Ganapathy and Mishir Continues

By Samira Vishwas On Mar 26, 2026

Bijapur. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that the country will be freed from the Naxalite problem by 31 March 2026. Under this, security forces have killed all the Naxalites, including top commanders of Maoists including Hidma, in the Naxal-affected districts. Thousands of Naxalites have also surrendered in the last few years. Now another top commander of Naxalites Papa Rao has also surrendered along with his 17 associates in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh. Before surrendering, Papa Rao said that he will now give up his arms and fight for the welfare of the people under the Constitution.

VIDEO | Bijapur, Chhattisgarh: One of the last remaining senior Maoist commanders, Papa Rao, surrendered along with his 17 team members on Tuesday.
He said, “According to the Constitution of India, we will fight for the rights of the people, for water, and land. I will lay down… pic.twitter.com/21kZ8AThkn
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 25, 2026

On the other hand, according to the news of news channel Aaj Tak, the biggest leader of Naxalites, Ganpati has fled to Nepal. Whereas, another leader of Naxalites, Mishir, is hiding in Jharkhand. Both of them are being searched. The effect of swift action by the security forces is that the number of Naxal affected districts in the country, which was 126 in 2014, has now come down to 11. Among these, the most affected districts are Bijapur, Sukma, Kanker, Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh, West Singhbhum in Jharkhand and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. To root out the Naxal problem, more than 12,000 kilometers of roads, 586 fortified police stations, 361 new camps of security forces and mobile towers etc. have been set up in the affected areas.

**According to reports, the biggest leader of Naxalites, Ganpati is hiding in Nepal.**

At one time, there was so much terror of Naxalites that in the year 2013, they attacked Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh and killed 27 people. Former Union ministers Vidya Charan Shukla, Mahendra Karma and Nand Kumar Patel were also among those who died. Whereas, Naxalites had ambushed in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh on 6 April 2010. In which 76 CRPF soldiers were martyred. Apart from this, Naxalites were also active in some districts of Bihar and Odisha. After the arrival of Modi government at the Centre, the campaign of security forces against Naxalites intensified. As a result, the Maoists who indulged in bloodshed have almost been wiped out.