President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra on 13 military and police personnel at Rashtrapati Bhavan, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also present at the ceremony.

In a ceremony that drew attention to the quiet, often unheralded courage of India's security forces, President Droupadi Murmu on Monday presented the Shaurya Chakra to 13 soldiers and police officers at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those present.

The honours spanned branches — Army, Navy, and state police — and ranged from counterterrorism operations along the Line of Control to anti-Naxal engagements deep in Chhattisgarh's conflict zones.

Colonel Who Killed Three Terrorists Honoured

Among the most noted recipients was Lieutenant Colonel Nitesh Bharti Shukla of the Indian Army's 19th Battalion, Sikh Regiment, who was awarded the Shaurya Chakra for eliminating three terrorists along the LoC. The citation reflects the kind of direct combat engagement that rarely makes headlines but shapes the security calculus in the border hinterland.

Major Aditya Pratap Singh also received the award for showing exceptional bravery during a military operation in a border area of Arunachal Pradesh, while Major Anshul Baltu of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and 32 Assam Rifles was recognised for his service and demonstrated valour in the field.

Navy's Long-Distance Sailors Recognised

In a departure from the predominantly land-based recognitions, Lieutenant Commander Dilna K and Lieutenant Commander Roopa A of the Indian Navy were awarded the Shaurya Chakra for their role in the Navika Sagar Parikrama-II expedition — a demanding circumnavigation mission that tested seamanship, determination, and endurance over an extended period. Their inclusion underlines a broadening definition of operational courage within the armed forces.

Chhattisgarh Anti-Naxal Officers in the List

Two police officers from Chhattisgarh — Inspector Laxman Kewat and Inspector Rameshwar Prasad Deshmukh — were also conferred the Shaurya Chakra for bravery during anti-Naxal operations in the state. Chhattisgarh has seen a significant intensification of counterinsurgency operations in recent years, with several high-value encounters drawing national attention. Recognising police officers at this level signals acknowledgment of the state-level forces that carry much of the operational load in left-wing extremism-affected districts.

A Posthumous Honour

The ceremony also carried a sombre note. Martyr Lance Dafadar Baldev Chand of 4 Rashtriya Rifles was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra. President Murmu presented the honour to his wife and mother — a moment that encapsulated both the cost of service and the state's formal recognition of sacrifice.

A Cross-Service Ceremony

The Shaurya Chakra is India's third-highest peacetime gallantry award, given for acts of bravery, courageous action, or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield or in the face of the enemy. Monday's ceremony brought together recipients from diverse operational theatres — Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, the open ocean, and the jungles of central India — in one room. That range, perhaps more than any individual citation, speaks to the breadth of active threat environments Indian forces currently operate within.

With PM Modi in attendance, the event also carried political weight, taking place against the backdrop of continued security operations in border regions and the government's stated commitment to zero tolerance on insurgency.

Nine Naxalites, Including 36-Year Veteran of CPI(M), Surrender Before Andhra Pradesh Police

Senior Central Committee member Suresh, carrying a bounty of ₹25 lakh, gives up arms along with eight cadres from Chhattisgarh as the March 31 deadline closes in

A Senior Commander Steps Out

A senior Maoist commander with nearly four decades inside one of India's most feared insurgent outfits walked out of the jungle on Sunday and surrendered before the Director General of Police in Andhra Pradesh — marking one of the most significant individual capitulations in the recent crackdown on Left Wing Extremism.

Chelluri Narayan Rao, known within CPI (Maoist) circles as Suresh, was the Secretary of the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) and a member of the Central Committee. He had been active in the organisation for approximately 36 years. He was accompanied by eight other cadres, taking the total reward value of the surrendering group to ₹48 lakh.

Who Are the Nine Naxalites?

Eight of the nine individuals who surrendered hail from Sukma and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh. They were active across various units including the PLGA battalion, area committees, and local guerrilla formations. The state government's surrender and rehabilitation policy entitles them to reward money and other assistance aimed at reintegrating former cadres into civilian life.

Suresh himself carried a declared bounty of ₹25 lakh. Among others in the group, Kartam Lachhu had a reward of ₹5 lakh, while Kartam Adame alias Nangi, Muchaki Masa alias Ajit, Podiyam Raje, and Madvi Jogi each had ₹4 lakh on their heads. Muchaki Laxman, Madivi Adama, and Kaditi Hurre each carried a reward of ₹1 lakh. All nine were handed ₹20,000 each as immediate relief upon surrender.

A History of Violence

According to Andhra Pradesh Police, Suresh was no passive functionary. He is believed to have had a role in the 2018 killings of Andhra Pradesh MLA Kidari Sarveshwara Rao and former legislator Siveri Someshwara Rao. He is also said to have participated in multiple ambushes and attacks on security personnel over the years. His surrender, police officials noted, effectively removes one of the last remaining senior-most operational links in the AOBSZC's command structure.

Why They Chose to Walk Away

The surrendering cadres cited a combination of factors for their decision. The deaths and arrests of several top Maoist leaders, shrinking public support for the armed movement, and the government's structured rehabilitation framework — which offers financial aid, housing, and educational support — all played a role, according to officials present at the surrender. Along with themselves, the group handed over a cache of weapons including one INSAS rifle, five .303 rifles, and six single-shot rifles.

Bastar's Last Big Commander Had Already Fallen

Sunday's development followed a significant surrender five days earlier. On March 25, a major Naxal cadre identified as Paparao — described as the last significant fighting commander in the West Bastar Division — surrendered before security forces in Jagdalpur, handing over weapons as part of the state government's Poona Margem rehabilitation initiative. Paparao, 56, a resident of Sukma district, was a member of the DKSZCM and served as in-charge of the West Bastar Division Committee. He arrived with 18 companions, including 10 men and eight women. The group surrendered eight AK-47s, one SLR, one INSAS rifle, and other arms, along with ₹12 lakh in cash.

With Paparao's exit, security officials say the West Bastar Division Committee of the Maoists has effectively ceased to exist as an operational force.

The Bigger Picture: A Movement in Freefall

Over the past 26 months, more than 2,714 Maoist cadres have returned to the mainstream across Chhattisgarh — a rate of surrender unprecedented in six decades of the insurgency. In 2025 alone, more than 1,500 Naxalites laid down their arms.

Since January 2024, 2,100 Naxalites have surrendered, 1,785 have been arrested, and 477 have been eliminated. Senior commanders of the calibre of Madvi Hidma and the organisation's secretary Basavaraj were neutralised in encounters last year, gutting the command structure that once directed operations across the Red Corridor.

State officials have indicated that nearly 96 per cent of Bastar's geographical area is now free from Naxal influence, and that no DKSZC-rank active Maoists remain operational in the state.

What Comes Next

The government's self-imposed deadline to dismantle armed Naxalism expires on March 31, 2026 — a date that now sits just hours away. With a week to the deadline, five of the eight districts that continued to face the Naxal menace were in Chhattisgarh — Bijapur, Sukma, Narayanpur, Kanker, and Dantewada. Security deployments in these areas remain heavy.

Plans are underway to convert nearly 400 security camps — once the operational pivot of the anti-Maoist campaign — into public infrastructure including schools, hospitals, and centres for processing minor forest produce. The transition signals a deliberate shift from counter-insurgency to development as the state looks to consolidate gains made on the ground.

For now, the surrender of Suresh and his eight companions adds to a tally that would have seemed implausible even two years ago.

Bastar Naxal Crackdown: Major Cadre Surrenders With Weapons as Chhattisgarh's Anti-Maoist Drive Enters Final Phase

With just days left before the government's March 31 deadline, another significant Maoist cadre has laid down arms in Bastar — and the weapons surrendered tell a story of a movement in deep retreat.

The Surrender

A significant Naxal cadre from the Paparav area of Bastar has surrendered before security forces in Jagdalpur, handing over weapons and choosing to join the mainstream under the state government's Poona Margem rehabilitation initiative.

The surrender is the latest in a relentless wave of capitulations across Chhattisgarh's most sensitive districts — Bijapur, Sukma, Dantewada, and now Bastar — as the government's March 31, 2026 deadline to eliminate Left Wing Extremism closes in by the day.

A Movement in Freefall

The numbers tell the story more clearly than any single arrest or surrender can.

In just the past 26 months, over 2,714 Maoist cadres have returned to the mainstream across Chhattisgarh — a pace of surrender that the insurgency has never experienced in its six-decade history. In 2025 alone, more than 1,500 Naxalites laid down their arms. And in March 2026, the surrenders have accelerated dramatically.

Just weeks ago, 108 Naxalites — including six divisional committee members — surrendered at Jagdalpur, handing over a large cache of weapons along with Rs 3.61 crore in cash and one kilogram of gold recovered from Maoist hideouts. It was the largest seizure of cash and valuables from a single Maoist location in the history of anti-Naxal operations in India.

Before that, 210 cadres — including a Central Committee member — surrendered in what became the largest single-day mass surrender in the history of Chhattisgarh's anti-Naxal campaign. They handed over 153 weapons including AK-47 rifles, INSAS rifles, Self Loading Rifles, carbines, and Barrel Grenade Launchers.

What Is Driving the Surrenders

The surrender wave is not happening in a vacuum. It is the product of a deliberate, multi-pronged strategy that has taken years to reach this tipping point.

Security operations have systematically dismantled the Maoist logistical supply chain. Over 450 Naxal bodies have been recovered in the past two seasons in Bastar alone. Senior commanders — men and women who once directed operations across thousands of square kilometres of forest — have been killed, captured, or have surrendered. The Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, once the most powerful regional Maoist body in the country, has been hollowed out from the inside.

At the same time, the Poona Margem rehabilitation initiative — which translates as "from rehabilitation to social reintegration" — has offered cadres a credible exit. Surrendering Naxalites receive financial assistance, skill development training, employment linkages under the new Industrial policy, and land benefits. For young tribal men and women who were recruited into the movement in conditions of poverty and fear, this is a genuinely different offer than anything the Maoist organisation can provide.

The Political Significance

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has staked enormous political capital on the March 31, 2026 deadline — declaring that Abujhmarh and North Bastar, once considered the most impenetrable Maoist heartlands in India, are now free of Naxal presence. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has called the surrender wave a vindication of the state's development-and-security twin-track approach.

IG Bastar Range Sundarraj Pattilingam has been unambiguous in his assessment: "Their days are numbered. They have only one option — either surrender or face the same action as other cadres."

Those are not the words of a counter-insurgency campaign managing a stalemate. They are the words of a force that believes it is winning.

What Remains

Three districts — Bijapur, Sukma, and Narayanpur — still have an active Naxal presence, though significantly degraded. The hardened ideological core of the movement — those who will not surrender under any circumstances — remains a real, if shrinking, threat.

The March 31 deadline was never a magic number that would make the remaining cadres vanish overnight. What it has done is create an irreversible psychological momentum — a belief, among both security forces and Maoist cadres, that the movement's end is near.

One more cadre has surrendered in Paparav. One more weapon handed over. One more person choosing roads, schools, and a future over forests, explosives, and a dying cause.

Bastar is not there yet. But it has never been closer.