Seven Naxalites, including three women, involved in several attacks on security forces and carrying collective cash rewards of Rs 32 Lakh surrendered in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh on Friday, a police official said.
The cadres turned themselves in before senior police and Border Security Force (BSF) officials here citing disappointment with the "hollow" and "inhuman" Maoist ideology and tribals' exploitation by senior Naxalites, Kanker Senior Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela said.
Of those surrendered, Mamta alias Shanta alias Vasanna Battulai (60), Dinesh Matttami (20) and Aaytu Ram Potai (27) were carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh each for their capture, he said.
Mamta, a resident of Karimnagar district in neighbouring Telangana, was active as a divisional committee member and headed the 'Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangthan' (KAMS), a frontal wing of the outlawed organisation, in the north Bastar division of Maoists, he said.
Between 1996 and 2024, she was involved in 26 Naxal incidents, including the 2015 IED (improvised explosive device) blast in the Koyalibeda area in Kanker district during panchayat polls wherein two jawans were killed and the 2018 Mahla ambush that killed two BSF personnel, he said.
While Mattami was active as a member of the military company number 10 of Maoists, Potai was a member of military company number five, he said.
Another surrendered cadre, Jamuna alias Neera Netam (50), was active as a member of the Partapur area committee.
Jamuna was also involved in many Naxal attacks, including the ambush in Bhuski-Michgaon village in 2007 in which five policemen were killed and 18 others injured, Elesela said, adding that she carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh.
Three others, Itwarin Padda (25), a member of Partapur LGS (local guerilla squad), Sanjay Nareti (23) of the Panidobir/Rowghat LOS (local organisation squad), and Sagnu Ram Anchla (24) Panidobir LOS member, carried a reward of Rs 1 Lakh each, the SSP added. All the surrendered Naxalites were provided assistance of Rs 25,000 each and will be further rehabilitated as per the government's policy, he added. Last year, 792 Naxalites had surrendered in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts including Kanker.
