Eight Naxals surrender in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district

Cadres, who were active in south Bastar, turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials on Monday, citing their disappointment with the "hollow" Maoist ideology

Dantewada: Eight Naxals, including four allegedly involved in killing a BJP MLA in April last year, surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Dantewada district, police said on Tuesday.

The cadres, who were active in south Bastar, turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials on Monday, citing their disappointment with the “hollow” Maoist ideology, an official said.

The ultras also said that the recent surrender by their colleagues as a part of ‘Lon Varratu” (return to your home/village) campaign of the district police had also encouraged them to quit violence, the official said.

Of the eight cadres, Aytu Bhaskar (25), who was active as a section commander in platoon number 13 of Maoists, was carrying a reward of Rs 3 lakh on his head, Dantewada superintendent of police Abhishek Pallava said.

Bhaskar had been in jail for close to 11 months in 2019 in connection with the uprooting of railway tracks by Naxals in Bhansi area and is currently out on bail, the official said.

Surrendered ultras Raju Karam (25), head of Chetna Natya Mandli (CNM-a cultural wing of Maoists), and Mahesh Kumar Dodi (26) were also involved in various incidents and carried rewards of Rs 1 lakh each on their heads, he added.

Bhima Barse (28), Sona Tati (20), Madka Barse (21) and Pitte alias Bhima Mandavi (35) among the other surrendered cadres, were allegedly involved in the IED blast that killed BJP MLA Bheema Mandavi and four security personnel in Shyamgiri area of Dantewada in April last year, he said.

The surrendered ultras were given an immediate assistance of Rs 10,000 each and will be provided facilities as per the government’s surrender and rehabilitation policy, the official added.
Under the Lon Varratu initiative, the Dantewada police have put up posters and banners in the native villages of at least 1,600 Naxals, mostly carrying cash rewards on their heads, and appealed them to return to the mainstream.

Since the drive launched in June, 226 Naxals have surrendered in the district, he added.