26 Maoists surrender in Chhattisgarh

As many as 26 Naxalites, 13 of them carrying a collective bounty of Rs 65 lakh, surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Wednesday, a senior police official said. The cadres, including seven women, turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials here under the “Poona Margem” (from rehabilitation to social reintegration) rehabilitation initiative, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan said.

They were active in the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion, South Bastar division, Maad division and Andhra Odisha Border division of Maoists and were involved in several incidents of violence in Abujhmad, Sukma in Chhattisgarh and bordering areas of Odisha, he said.

The cadres said they were also impressed by the State Government’s surrender and rehabilitation policy of the state government, he added.

Of them, Lali alias Muchaki Aayte Lakhmu (35), a company party committee member, carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. She was involved in several major incidents of violence, including triggering an IED blast targeting a vehicle on the Koraput road (Odisha) in 2017, in which 14 security personnel were killed, the official said.