A total of 35 Maoists surrendered before the security forces across five districts in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on Tuesday, just hours before the Centre’s March 31 deadline to eliminate Left Wing Extremism (LWE) ends, officials said.

Of them, 25 cadres, including 12 women, belonging to the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of Maoists, surrendered in Bijapur district under the police’s ‘Poona Margem’ (from rehabilitation to social reintegration) initiative, IGP of Bastar Range, Sundarraj Pattlingam, said.