Eight Maoists including two women and a Jan Militia Commander carrying a reward of Rs 1.25 lakh surrendered before Superintendent of Office in Kondagaon district on Tuesday.
The surrendered cadres were active members of Barda Dalam for past seven years, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Kondagaon, Abhishek Meena. The surrendered cadres of outlawed CPI (Maoist) were operating in Dhanora, Iragaon, Amabeda and Benur areas of the district. These included Baiju son of Beersai, Remesh son of Chamra, Beersingh son of Mankuram, Agnu, Mangal son of Tagru, Siyaram son of Mansai and Juggo.
Baiju was a Jan Militia Commander of the banned outfit and carried a reward of Rs 1.25 lakh, police said. Police said that the surrendered Maoists felt harassed and cheated by the senior cadres particularly of Andhra Pradesh. They alleged that they were lured away by Maoist leaders like Phulsingh, Kishor, Sarita and Mayaram by offering money and use of arms. They joined the movement in 2007 and since then they were forced to commit crimes.
The senior cadres issued life threats when they expressed desire to leave the outfit. They accused the senior cadres of Andhra Pradesh of atrocities on tribals and exploitation of local women besides extortion. They were not allowed to meet their families, marry or have children, police said.
The surrendered insurgents are accused in number of crimes like firing on police parties, explosion, firing on police and polling parties during Mandi elections, loot of ballot boxes, damage to schools and public properties etc, police said. The surrendered insurgents will get assistance as per provisions of rehabilitation policy of the Chhattisgarh Government, added Meena.