Fifteen Maoists, including a minor and two women, belonging to the squad of wanted red rebel Misir Besra laid down their arms in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district on Thursday, police said.

This is a major success for security forces ahead of the Lok Sabha poll.

The Naxals were operating in Saranda, Asia’s densest Sal forest, in Kolhan region in southern Jharkhand where security forces have mounted a major operation against the red rebels.

“Fifteen Maoists have surrendered on Thursday. They were operating in Saranda and were squad members of CPI (Maoist) politburo member Misir Besra, who carries a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head,” a police officer told PTI.

West Singhbhum is considered to be one of the worst left-wing extremist-affected districts in the country. It had witnessed 46 Maoist-related incidents, resulting in 22 deaths last year.

“It is a big achievement and will contribute significantly to conducting free and fair elections in Singhbhum constituency without an element of fear,” West Singhbhum deputy commissioner Kuldeep Chaudhary told PTI.

“Joint security forces specially targeted their (Maoist) ERB (Eastern Regional Bureau) command and our continued operations have resulted in the dismantling of their ERB HQ location from Kolhan area.

“Due to continued operations and facilitative security environment in the disturbed areas and outreach of the security forces, local dasta (squad) members have been motivated to leave out the team and join their families and lead a normal life in mainstream society,” a statement from the police headquarters said.

As a result of efforts of the security forces, 15 members of the banned organisation CPI (Maoist) have surrendered before the district administration and security forces, it said.

It is critical to highlight that all of them are residents of West Singhbhum district and have been disgruntled by the exploits of Maoist leaders, the statement said. It added that some members have been active for more than seven to eight years.

“Mass surrender of the active local dasta members before the security forces reflects the decline in influence of Maoist leaders especially senior cadres like Misir Besra who has been one of the most notorious Naxals,” the statement said.

West Singhbhum has been critical for CPI (Maoist) in view of the location of its ERB command in the Kolhan area led by its central committee members Misir Besra, Patiram Manjhi alias Anal and Asim Mandal.

On May 13, many interior areas in the Maoist den of Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat in Jharkhand will witness voting for the first time, or after decades-long gap.