71 Naxalites surrender in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada

Dantewada, Sep 24 (PTI) As many as 71 Naxalites, 30 of them carrying a collective bounty of Rs 64 lakh, surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district on Wednesday, a police official said.

The Naxalites, including 21 women, turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials, citing disappointment with the “hollow” Maoist ideology, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Gaurav Rai said.

A 17-year-old boy and two minor girls, aged 16 and 17, are also among the surrendered cadres.

The Naxalites said they were also impressed by the rehabilitation drives ‘Lon Varratu’ and ‘Poona Margem’, launched by the Bastar Range police, and the state government's new surrender and rehabilitation policy, he said.

Of the surrendered, Baman Madkam (30) and Manki, alias Samila Mandavi (20), carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh each, while Shamila alias Somli Kawasi (25), Gangi alias Rohni Barse (25), Deve alias Kavita Madvi (25) and Santosh Mandavi (30) carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh each, he said.

Among others, one Naxalite carried a reward of Rs 3 lakh, six cadres Rs 2 lakh each, nine cadres Rs 1 lakh each and eight cadres Rs 50,000 each, he said.

Baman, Shamila, Gangi and Deve were allegedly involved in several attacks on security personnel. The others were involved in digging roads, cutting trees, putting up Naxalite banners, posters and pamphlets in their respective areas, he said.

With this surrender, 1,113 Naxalites, including 297 carrying rewards, have so far quit violence in the district under the ‘Lon Varratu’ (term coined in local Gondi dialect, which means return to your home/village) campaign, launched in June 2020, the SP said.

All the surrendered Naxalites were provided with an assistance of Rs 50,000 each and will be further rehabilitated as per the government’s policy, police said.

The recent killing of two senior Maoist leaders, who were key figures in overseeing the organisational and military activities of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district has dealt a further blow to the outfit’s already weakening ecosystem, a senior police official had said on Tuesday.

Raju Dada alias Katta Ramachandra Reddy (63) and Kosa Dada alias Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy (67), both Central Committee members of the banned outfit and carrying a bounty of Rs 1.80 crore each, were neutralised on Monday near the forested hills of Farasbeda and Toymeta villages in Abujhmad, he had said. PTI COR TKP NR