Twenty-seven Naxalites, five carrying cash rewards on their heads, surrendered in Chattisgarh's Dantewada district on Sunday, saying they were impressed by the police rehabilitation drive and dejected with the Maoists, an official said.
"The 27, including six women, turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials at Barsoor police station," Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallav said.
Of them, 11 cadres are from Gufa village, seven from Bedma, five from Mangnar, three from Hitawada and one from Handawada in the district, he said, without disclosing their identity citing security reasons.
They were active as members of the Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangthan (DAKMS) and Krantikari Mahila Adivasi Sangthan (KAMS), frontal wings of the Maoists, Chetna Natya Mandli (a cultural body of the Maoists) and Jan-militia groups, Pallav said.
"All of them were involved in attacks on police teams, triggering IED blasts and putting up Maoist posters and banners. Five of them carried rewards of Rs 1 lakh each on their heads," he said.
In a joint statement, they said they were disappointed with the "hollow" Maoist ideology. They also said that the recent surrender by their colleagues as a part of 'Lon Varratu campaign of the police encouraged them to quit violence, he said.
Each of them was given immediate assistance of Rs 10,000 and will be provided facilities further as per the government's surrender and rehabilitation policy, Pallav added.
Under the 'Lon Varratu' (a term in Gondi dialect) initiative, Dantewada police have put up posters and banners in the villages of at least 1,600 Naxals, mostly carrying cash rewards on their heads, and appealed them to return to the mainstream.