As many as 66 Maoists, including 49 carrying a cumulative reward of ₹2.27 crore, surrendered in five districts of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar division on Thursday, police officials said.
Officials said 25 surrendered in Bijapur, 15 in Dantewada, 13 in Kanker, eight in Narayanpur, and five in Sukma; 27 of them were women.
According to the police, the surrendered cadres cited growing disillusion with the Maoist ideology, atrocities committed by the group on innocent tribals, and deepening internal rifts within the banned outfit. Many also said they were inspired by the state government’s ‘Niyad Nellanar’ (Your Good Village) scheme, aimed at development in remote tribal areas, along with the new surrender and rehabilitation policy, and the Bastar police’s ‘Poona Margham’ initiative for social reintegration.
In Bijapur, 23 of the 25 surrendered Maoists were carrying a collective bounty of ₹1.15 crore. Among them were Ramanna Irpa (37), a member of the Odisha State Committee and the Maoists’ Special Zonal Committee, who carried a reward of ₹25 lakh, and his wife Rame Kalmu (30), a Platoon Party Committee Member (PPCM) with a bounty of ₹8 lakh. Others included Sukku Kalmu (38), Bablu Madvi (30), Kosi Madkam (28), and Reena Vanjam (28), each carrying rewards of ₹8 lakh.
In Dantewada, five of the 15 who surrendered had a total bounty of ₹17 lakh. Among them were Budhram alias Lalu Kuhram, a divisional committee member with a bounty of ₹8 lakh, and his wife Kamli alias Moti Potawi, who carried a reward of ₹5 lakh. With this latest surrender, a total of 1,020 Maoists — 254 of them carrying rewards — have given up arms under the ‘Lon Varratu’ (Return to Your Home) campaign launched in June 2020.
{{/usCountry}}In Dantewada, five of the 15 who surrendered had a total bounty of ₹17 lakh. Among them were Budhram alias Lalu Kuhram, a divisional committee member with a bounty of ₹8 lakh, and his wife Kamli alias Moti Potawi, who carried a reward of ₹5 lakh. With this latest surrender, a total of 1,020 Maoists — 254 of them carrying rewards — have given up arms under the ‘Lon Varratu’ (Return to Your Home) campaign launched in June 2020.
{{/usCountry}}In Kanker, the 13 surrendered Maoists carried a combined reward of ₹62 lakh, according to superintendent of police Indira Kalyan Elesela.
In Narayanpur, the eight who laid down arms had a total bounty of ₹33 lakh. One of them, Vatti Ganga alias Mukesh (44), who served as the Maoists’ north bureau technical team in charge, carried a reward of ₹8 lakh.
Each surrendered Maoist was given immediate assistance of ₹50,000 and will be rehabilitated under the provisions of the state government’s surrender and reintegration policy.