A 4,000-strong contingent of security forces has intensified search inside Jharkhand’s Saranda forest for the 66-year-old Misir Besra, the last active politburo member of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).

Sources in the security establishment said the personnel, drawn from the CRPF, CoBRA and the Jharkhand police, had been deployed in the dense, heavily forested areas of the “Red Corridor” to locate Besra, who also goes by the aliases Sagar and Asim Mandal and is said to be hiding there with his cadres.

“With the cordon tightening and supplies cut off inside the forest, surrender is the only option left for him. The operation in Saranda will mark the final chapter in the long pursuit of one of India’s most wanted Maoist commanders,” said a Union home ministry official.

Several forward operating bases (FOBs) have been established in the Saranda region to strengthen security presence inside the forest, he said.

On Monday, Union home minister Amit Shah had declared India “Naxal-free” on his first visit to Chhattisgarh’s Bastar after the March 31 deadline that he had set to eradicate Left-wing extremism.

Sources in his ministry, however, said the number of Naxal-affected districts in the country had come down to seven, with three of them — Bijapur, Narayanpur and Sukma in Chhattisgarh — remaining in the “most affected category”.

Besra was arrested in Ranchi in 2007, only to escape in 2009 when heavily armed Maoist cadres launched a daring attack on the court premises in Bihar’s Lakhisarai while he was there on a production remand. Since his escape, he has continued to evade security forces. He has survived several fierce, high-profile gun battles in the
Saranda and Tumbahaka forests of Jharkhand,
managing to slip away into the dense terrain.

Sources said personnel of the CRPF, the elite anti-Naxalite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and Jharkhand police have established a 20km cordon inside the Saranda forest and have sealed key routes, including inter-state borders with Odisha and Chhattisgarh, to hunt for the elusive Maoist leader.

Besra, carrying a bounty of ₹1 crore, is the last remaining top CPI-Maoist commander. All other politburo members have either surrendered or have been killed in encounters across Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh since the massive anti-Maoist offensive launched in December 2024.

“A massive hunt has been launched to trace Misir Besra, the mastermind behind some of the deadliest attacks on security personnel in the region. Close to 4,000 personnel of the CRPF, CoBRA and the Jharkhand police have been deployed to locate him,” said a Union home ministry official.

Family members, including his son and brother Devilal Besra, have also appealed to him to surrender and return to the mainstream.

A long-time operative in the Saranda region, Misir Besra allegedly masterminded dozens of attacks on security personnel, including the April 2004 ambush in which 32 police personnel were killed.

A comprehensive review of the “National Policy and Action Plan to address LWE” was recently undertaken by the Union government across 38 districts in nine states. These states are Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana.

As many as 7,409 Maoists were arrested between 2019 and January 15, 2026, while another 5,880 surrendered during the period.

Twenty-seven Maoists allegedly linked to Besra surrendered before the Jharkhand police on Thursday. An official of the Jharkhand police said this was part of Operation Navjeevan, launched as part of the state government’s surrender and rehabilitation policy for Maoist cadres.

Sources said the surrendered cadres include top commanders and members associated with Besra’s teams. Among those who surrendered are 6 special zonal committee members, 6 area committee members, 13 squad members of the banned CPI (Maoist) and 2 cadres of the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad, a Maoist group active in Gumla district.

The Maoists surrendered with 17 weapons and nearly 3,000 rounds of ammunition. A total of 22 Maoists have been killed, while 44 have been arrested and 29 have laid down arms in 2026. “We appeal to those who have notsurrendered to renounce the path of violence and come to the mainstream,” CRPF inspector-general Saket Singh said.