Bastar's Final Maoist Chapter: Last big commander Paparao set to come in from the jungle to surrender with 21 cadres

RAIPUR: Bastar’s last big Maoist commander Paparao is set to surrender in Jagdalpur on Tuesday along with 21 cadres, with security agencies claiming it to be the last nail in the coffin as the final collapse of the region’s remaining armed leadership, just six days before the Centre’s March 31 deadline to end Left-wing extremism.Speaking to TOI, Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma who also holds home portfolio confirmed that Maoist commander Paparao will formally hand over weapons to police and the rehabilitation process is expected to be carried out in the presence of community representatives, under the state’s rehabilitation framework, a process designed to signal not just a security breakthrough but a return to the social mainstream."Paparao carries a bounty of Rs 25 lakh and is among the last senior Maoist leaders active in Bastar," Vijay Sharma said."He has conveyed that whoever remains with him and is willing should come along. Cadres from different locations are assembling in forest ahead of the surrender and they will formally lay down arms today evening," Sharma said.Police identify him as a special zonal committee member and in-charge of the west Bastar division.Paparao, also known by aliases including Sunam Chandraya, Mangu Dada and Chandranna, is considered one of the last remaining senior Maoist names in Bastar. Home minister Sharma said that the state sees this as a decisive moment in Bastar’s anti-Maoist campaign. “The work has already been done. After a few more hours, nothing substantial will remain. The last big name is coming,” he said, while stressing that many of those still left have already dumped weapons, shifted to civil dress and blended into farming or village life, though surveillance and caution would continue.