Police said the former insurgents had chosen to abandon armed struggle and rejoin civilian life as part of an ongoing nationwide effort to dismantle the final remnants of the Maoist movement.

The Telangana police said in a statement that 47 Maoist members had “chosen to join the mainstream,” adding that “almost all remaining underground key leaders have now been neutralized.”The surrender follows Home Minister Amit Shah’s declaration on March 30 that India had become “Naxal-free,” marking what the government described as the effective end of an insurgency that began nearly six decades ago.

The rebellion traces its origins to 1967 in Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal’s Himalayan foothills, where a peasant uprising inspired a Maoist movement that later spread across large parts of central and eastern India.

At its peak in the mid-2000s, the insurgency operated across what officials called the “Red Corridor,” stretching through mineral-rich and forested regions, with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fighters active across multiple states.

More than 12,000 people, including rebels, security personnel, and civilians, were killed during the conflict, according to official figures.The government intensified military and intelligence operations over the past two years, targeting the final strongholds of the insurgency in remote forest regions, particularly in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Odisha, and parts of Maharashtra.

Authorities said surrendered rebels were being provided rehabilitation packages that included vocational training, financial support, and new civilian identities to facilitate reintegration into society.Police said the 47 former rebels would receive a combined rehabilitation package worth about $159,000, or roughly $3,400 each.

Officials have also appealed to remaining underground cadres to lay down their arms and take advantage of state rehabilitation schemes.Despite the decline of the insurgency, authorities face the continuing challenge of clearing hundreds of improvised land mines and explosive devices planted by Maoist groups along forest routes and remote villages.

The rebels had long claimed to be fighting for the rights of marginalized Indigenous communities in central India’s resource-rich tribal belts, where disputes over land rights, mining, and displacement remain politically sensitive.

Security analysts say that while organized armed resistance has sharply weakened, the social and economic grievances that originally fueled the movement continue to persist in several regions.

The latest surrenders reflect the government’s effort to convert military gains into long-term stability while preventing the possibility of renewed underground mobilization.

Fire and rescue officials said they were alerted at around 1:32 a.m., as flames spread rapidly across one of Sabah’s water villages, where houses built on stilts stand in close proximity. District fire chief Jimmy Lagung said weather conditions and structural density contributed to the speed of the fire, while low tide hindered access to open water sources for firefighting operations.

Police in Sandakan said no fatalities had been reported, though thousands of residents were affected and forced to evacuate as the fire engulfed large sections of the settlement. The affected communities include some of Malaysia’s most vulnerable populations, with many residents living in informal housing and lacking secure access to public services.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the federal government was coordinating with state authorities to deliver immediate relief, including basic necessities and temporary shelter for displaced residents. He said ensuring the safety of those affected and providing rapid assistance remained the government’s priority.

Water villages in Sabah are particularly susceptible to fire outbreaks due to their wooden construction, high density and limited infrastructure, factors that can complicate emergency response efforts and increase the scale of damage once fires take hold.