Three Naxalites with Rs 19 lakh bounty surrender in Narayanpur district

Narayanpur: Three Naxals, including two women -- carrying a collective cash reward of Rs 19 lakh on their heads -- have surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district, citing disillusionment with "hollow" Maoist ideology and exploitation of tribals, police said on Thursday.

One of the Naxals, identified as Bhima alias Dinesh Podiam (40), turned himself in on Wednesday, while the two women cadres, Sukli Korram alias Sapna and Devli Mandavi (22), surrendered on Tuesday before authorities, an official said.

The trio surrendered before senior police and CRPF officials in Narayanpur citing disillusionment with "hollow" and "inhuman" Maoist ideology, exploitation of innocent tribals by senior cadres and increasing influence of security forces in the Bastar region, he said.

While Bhima, who was active as a company party member in east Bastar division of Maoists, carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh, Sukli, a platoon party committee member, and Devli, a janmilitia member, were carrying bounty of Rs 8 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively, the official informed.

The women cadres were active in Abhujmad and Partapaur (Kanker) areas, he said.

"The Narayanpur police, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Border Security Force (BSF) have played a crucial role in their surrender. The development has caused a huge loss to the top Maoist cadres. The dream of a Naxal-free Abhujmaad (once a Maoist stronghold) through 'Maad bacaho abhiyaan' (save Maad drive) is taking real shape," Narayanpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhat Kumar said.

All the surrendered Naxalites were provided instant assistance of Rs 50,000 each and they will be rehabilitated as per the government's policy, he added.

Multiple benefits included in the government's new rehabilitation policy are persuading Naxalites to quit the outlawed movement, said the SSP.

"Time has come for all Naxalite brothers and sisters to come out of the misleading ideology of outsiders. Now is the time to hand over 'Maad' back to its original residents where they can live a normal life without any fear," Kumar emphasised.

With these surrenders, a total of 104 Naxalites have quit the armed movement led by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) so far this year in Narayanpur district.

Last year, 792 Naxalites had surrendered in the Bastar region comprising seven districts, including Narayanpur.