Taking responsibility of all charges of murder against him, notorious Maoist leader Kundan Pahan surrendered before the police in Ranchi on Sunday. The former CPI (Maoist) area commander disclosed on the occasion that the organisation had lost track and its top leaders were involved in levy collection for personal gains and that was the reason he decided to come back into the mainstream.
As per 'Operation Nai Disha' guideline, he was handed over a cheque of Rs 15 lakh by the police officials. Pahan while talking to the media persons during his surrender at the DIG office also accepted that he had done a big mistake in his life by joining the outlawed wing and had come before the police to repent on his past deeds.
"The CPI (Maoists) you see today has completely lost its track and is involved entirely into levy collection for personal gain of a few selected leaders on the top. Their children are studying in metros and even in foreign countries. I left the organisation after I realised that the development of villagers could not be done this way," said Pahan.
He further added that he made up his mind to join the mainstream after getting influenced by the policy of the State Government and expressed his willingness to take any responsibility given by the Government for the betterment of the people of Jharkhand.
"I take responsibility for all incidents, both small and big, as a leader which took place in the State during my stint in the organisation and accept that I have done a big mistake in my life. Today, I have come here to repent for my deeds," said the former area commander.
Referring to his alleged arrest in the year 2009, a fearless Pahan claimed that he was never caught by the police in his life. "I kept roaming in Ranchi for several days to surrender before the police but no one could recognise me as they do not have any photograph of mine with them. Police never succeeded in arresting me," Pahan said.
Earlier, calling his surrender a remarkable achievement for the force, Ranchi Range DIG AV Homkar said that Pahan, an important pillar of the organisation, was active for around 20 years in various parts of the State.
"It is a proud moment for all of us since the base of the organisation is being wiped out. They should join the mainstream or they will be either nabbed or will be gunned down by the security forces," said Homkar.
ADG (Operations) RK Mallick, appealing to innocent persons who joined the organisation after being lured by their leaders only to get exploited, asked them to take advantage of the policy of the State Government under 'Operation Nai Disha'.
"They are being given a last chance in the year 2017 as nobody knows what will happen to them in 2018. They are not going to get another chance in their life," said Mallick, adding that the police had been able to make them understand this which was the real success for the forces.
Meanwhile, family members of Kundan Pahan, also present on the occasion, expressed happiness over his surrender and said that they had been urging him repeatedly to return to the mainstream which he agreed to.
"We will live with him and make him happy," said his daughter Shirley Kumari, a student of Class IV at Manjreta Convent School at Namkom in Ranchi. She however, accepted that she often used to visit his father somewhere in Odisha with her grandparents.
Pahan, in his 40s, reportedly had left with a few people in his gang towards Jharkhand-Odisha border and was in contact of the Ranchi police for quite some time after his brothers Dimba Pahan surrendered in January and Shyam Pahan, wanted in 36 Naxal cases, was arrested from Yamunanagar in Haryana in February this year.
With a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head, Pahan was accused of being the architect of several cold-blooded crimes like beheading special branch officer Francis Induwar in 2009, murdering then Tamar MlA Ramesh Singh Munda and Bundu DSP Pramod Kumar Gupta and looting over Rs 5.07 crore in cash along with 1.2 kg of gold from ICICI van, all in 2008.
"Pahan has 128 cases in his name including 50 in Khunti, 42 in Ranchi, 27 in Chaibasa, 7 in Saraikela and one each in Gumla and Ramgarh," said SSP Ranchi Kuldeep Dwivedi. A member of Bihar-Jharkhand-North Chhattisgarh special area committee of CPI (Maoist), Pahan was zonal commander of Panch Pargana zone which includes Khunti district, Rahe, Tamar, Bundu of Ranchi district and parts of Saraikela-Kharsawan.