Two senior naxal operatives, a husband-wife duo, involved in the ideological and propaganda machinery of the outlawed CPI, surrendered before security forces in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, officials confirmed.Jeevan Tulavi, 45, and his wife Agasha, 35, gave themselves up in the Maoist-affected Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district, around 180 km from state capital Raipur. Both had been active in the rebel ranks for over two decades and held major roles in the Maad division of the organisation.Tulavi, also known as Ram Tulavi, was the divisional committee member (DVCM) and was working as education team commander in Maad division (Abujhmad), a remote, forested stretch known for long-standing Naxal activity. Agasha, alias Aarti Korram, was a key member of the press team and also worked as commander of the Chetna Natya Mandali (CNM), the outfit’s cultural wing.The state police had placed a bounty of Rs 8 lakh on Tulavi, who joined the Maoist ranks in 2008 as a military operative in south Rajnandgaon. By 2012, he had shifted to ideological training, working through mobile political schools (MOPOS) to spread Left Wing Extremist (LWE) ideology across villages in Abujhmad.His wife, Agasha, originally from Telitola village, was a singer, dancer, poet, orator and a song composer since 2000 and was operating computers and drafting press releases for the LWEs, officials told PTI.The surrender was accepted in the presence of Rajnandgaon range inspector general of police Abhishek Shandilya, superintendent of police Y P Singh, and ITBP 27th Battalion Commandant Vivek Kumar Pandey.Officials hailed the development as a “major success” in the government’s intensified anti-naxalite drive.The region borders Chhattisgarh’s Kanker and Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli districts — both active naxal zones. The Union government has set a deadline of March 2026 to root out naxal insurgency from the country, under which intensified operations are underway.