16 Maoists to surrender in Ranchi

As many as 16 Maoists, including Santosh alias Basudev Da alias Dilip, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head, will surrender before police here on Tuesday, a senior official said on Monday.

Of the 16 Maoists, six carry a total bounty of Rs 39 lakh. They include a regional committee member, one zonal committee member, two sub-zonal committee members and two area committee members, according to data provided by the Jharkhand police headquarters. Several women members are also part of the group.

The surrender of Santosh, a regional committee member of the CPI Maoist, is seen as a big achievement, as he is wanted in 128 cases in police stations of different districts and was carrying a bounty of Rs 15 lakh, the police said.

CPI (Maoist) zonal committee member Chandan Lohra, who was wanted in 78 cases and carries a bounty of `10 lakh, will also surrender on the occasion. The Maoists will also surrender six INSAS rifles, two AK-47 and one each HK-33, US Carbine and M-16 rifles, besides 38 magazines and 1,562 cartridges.

Other prominent members who will lay down arms include sub-zonal committee members Anil Turi alias Ujjwal and Sukhlal Birjiyan alias Akela, both carrying rewards of Rs 5 lakh each, area committee members Sudesh Honhaga alias Sonaram Honhaga and Risiv, both carrying bounties of Rs 2 lakh each, and zonal committee member Santosh Manjhi alias Jagabandhu.