Couple among 13 Naxals surrender in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district

Bijapur, Jan 9 (PTI) A couple was among 13 Naxalites, five of them carrying a cumulative reward of Rs 13 lakh on their heads, who surrendered before security forces in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, an official said.

The couple, Nandu Avalam alias Durgesh alias Kotesh and his wife Deve Madkam alias Chandani, cadres Munna Kakem, Sukhram Hemla, Bhima Vekko, along with eight other Naxals turned themselves in before security personnel, he said.

Kakem, who carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh, was the Katam Area Committee Member (ACM) under Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) division of the outlawed outfit CPI (Maoist), the official added.

Hemla was the People's Party Committee Member (PPCM) in the Platoon No. 10 of the Jagargunda Area Committee, the official said, adding he carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head.

The couple was party members of the Malanjkhand Area Committee under the Gondia division of the outlawed Maoist organization. Vekko was the Pamed Area Committee party member, he said.

The husband-wife duo and Vekko carried a bounty of Rs 1 lakh each, the official added.

While quitting the armed movement, the cadres denounced the inhuman and hollow Maoist ideology and hailed the state government's Naxalism elimination policy as well as the police's rehabilitation drive 'Niyaad Nellanar', the official said.

All of them will get benefits as per the government's surrender and rehabilitation policy for Maoists who decide to enter into mainstream society, he added. PTI COR RSY