MUNGER, Bihar — Suresh Koda, alias Mustakim, walked into a police surrender ceremony in Munger on Wednesday, handing over an arsenal that included two Insas rifles, an AK-47, an AK-56 and 505 rounds of ammunition. Police pursued the 25-year fugitive for his alleged role in killing more than 15 security personnel, including BMP jawans, SSB members and GRP officers. Koda faced 60 cases and carried a ₹3 lakh bounty.

The Special Task Force in Munger organized the event at the police lines. Koda belonged to the special area committee of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist and served on its Bihar-Jharkhand special zonal committee in the JB Zone. He surrendered under the state government’s rehabilitation policy, which promises ₹5 lakh upfront, ₹10,000 monthly for 36 months and ₹71,515 for the weapons, according to Munger range DIG Rakesh Kumar.

Police headquarters called the surrender a knockout punch to Maoist violence. “This marks the final blow to CPI (Maoist)-led violence in the Munger-Jamui-Lakhisarai region, making Bihar Naxal-free,” a senior official said. Director General of Operations Kundan Krishnan went further. “With Suresh Koda’s surrender, the menace of Naxalism in Jamui-Banka Zone—covering Lakhisarai, Munger, Jamui, Banka and Bhagalpur—and Magadh and Madhya Zones along Gaya’s GT Road, Aurangabad and Nawada—is virtually finished,” Krishnan said. “Bihar is now almost completely Maoist-free. No armed Maoists remain.”

One Insas rifle came from a 2013 ambush on the Sahebganj-Danapur intercity express between Jamalpur and Ratanpur stations. Maoists killed three GRP personnel there and looted the weapons. Three JB Zone members—Pravesh Da alias Sahdeo Soren, Arvind Yadav alias Neta Ji alias Alok Ji, and Tunni Lal alias Tuntun—later died in a Jharkhand encounter. Another Insas traced back to an attack that killed sub-inspector Rameshwar Ram and assistant sub-inspector ID Singh of the BMP.

Koda’s record includes arson on construction company vehicles, abductions of laborers and murders of chowkidars and panchayat members. He dodged multiple encounters over 25 years. DIG Rakesh Kumar credited sustained police operations, administrative outreach into remote forests and public cooperation. Munger range DIG Sanjay Singh, District Magistrate Nikhil Dhanraaj and other officials attended the ceremony.

The surrender caps a string of defections. On December 12, 2024, Narayan Koda, Bahadur Koda and Bino Koda—active CPI (Maoist) members—quit at RSK College in Khagarpur, Munger. They turned in two rifles, four SLR rifles, 500 ammunition rounds and 10 walkie-talkies. Maoist insurgency took root in Bihar in the 1970s. Police now see Koda’s exit as its demise.