Ranchi, October 26: In a significant development, 21 Maoist cadres surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Sunday, handing over 18 firearms, including AK-47 assault rifles, to the police officials present there.

The surrender took place under the 'Poona Margem: Rehabilitation through Reintegration' initiative, launched by the Bastar Range police.

According to a police spokesperson, among those who surrendered was Mukesh, a Division Committee Secretary. The group included 13 women ultras.

The 21 cadres are made up of four divisional committee members, nine area committee members, and eight individuals from the lower ranks of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) movement.

They were all affiliated with the Kuemari/Kiskodo Area Committee under the Keshkal Division (North Sub-Zonal Bureau) of the CPI (Maoist).