Indian officials said on Tuesday that a senior Maoist rebel leader and around 60 fighters have surrendered, weeks after the guerrillas announced a halt to their decades-long insurgency.

India is waging an intense campaign against the last remnants of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the Himalayan foothills where the Maoist-inspired insurgency began nearly six decades ago.

New Delhi has vowed to eliminate the insurgency entirely by March 2026.

A senior police officer confirmed the surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao, also known as "Sonu", along with 60 others.

Rao, who is reported to have been with the guerrillas since the 1980s, surrendered in Gadchiroli area of Maharashtra state, near the border with Chhattisgarh in central India.

Chhattisgarh's Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma confirmed the surrender to reporters but did not name those involved.

"We will welcome all those who join the mainstream," Sharma said.

"But those who do not will be dealt with by our armed forces in the right manner."

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) issued a statement in August -- made public in September -- saying it would suspend its armed struggle.

The Maoists said they had shifted their position due to the "changed world order and national situation, and because of the continuous appeals" from New Delhi.

In recent months, the government has repeatedly warned it intends to stamp out the Maoists.

More than 12,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed since a small group of villagers rose against their feudal landlords in 1967.

At its peak in the mid-2000s, the movement counted 15,000 to 20,000 fighters and controlled nearly a third of India. But it has been dramatically weakened in recent years.

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