Six Maoists surrender in Bijapur: Chhattisgarh Police

Six Maoists, with a total reward of ₹35 lakh for information leading to their arrest, surrendered to police in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Monday, according to a statement by the Bijapur police.

The six comprise four People’s Party Committee Members and two party member-rank cadres. Police identified them as Rani Sodhi alias Sandhya, Pando Podiyam alias Sasmita, Sukku Kudiyam alias Santosh, Kosa Madvi alias Satish, Deve Madkam alias Janni and Lalu Tati.

Rani Sodhi, 30, and Pando Podiyam, 28, were PPCM cadres of Company No. 8 operating in Odisha. Both carried a reward of ₹8 lakh.

Sodhi joined the Maoists in 2012 when she was in her teens and was involved in several Maoist-related incidents in Maharashtra and Odisha, including an attack on a polling party in Odisha in April 2018 in which two policemen were killed. She was also injured in an encounter in Odisha’s Konari forest in January this year, police said.

Podiyam joined the organisation in 2015 and, like Sodhi, later joined the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Sukku Kudiyam alias Santosh, 27, who carried a reward of ₹8 lakh, joined the armed group in 2015. In 2018, he moved to Odisha, where he was assigned to guard senior Maoist leaders, police said.

Kosa Madvi alias Satish, 30, was involved in attacks on a CISF camp of NMDC in 2006, a CRPF camp at Cherli in 2016 and a CRPF camp at Tekulguda in 2024. Police said Madvi had deserted the organisation in January this year.

Deve Madkam alias Janni, 22, and Lalu Tati, 25, carried rewards of ₹2 lakh and ₹1 lakh, respectively.

Police said Madkam worked as a security guard for senior Maoist leader Jagdish Irpa alias Ramanna between November 2022 and June 2025, while Tati was a party member of the Gangloor Area Committee. Tati joined the organisation as a child and later worked with the PLGA and Battalion No. 1 before being shifted to the Gangloor Area Committee. Police said he was involved in the Tekulguda incident in April 2021 and attacks on security camps in Elmagunda and Sannapur in 2022.