About 210 Maoists with over Rs 9 cr bounty surrender; CM Sai hails ‘new era of peace’

Jagdalpur: As many as 210 Maoist cadres, including one Central Committee member, laid down their arms before authorities in Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur on Friday, making it the “largest mass surrender” in the history of anti-Naxal operations in the state, officials said.

These Naxalites carried a collective bounty of Rs 9.18 crore, they said.

With this, a total of 238 Naxalites have quit the path of violence and joined the mainstream in the state in the last three days as 28 others had surrendered on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the development, saying it was a historic day not only for Bastar but for Chhattisgarh and the entire nation. The state is now moving towards a new era of peace, trust, and development, he said.

According to officials, Friday’s mass surrender - the largest so far in the state - marks a decisive turning point in the government’s ongoing campaign to eliminate Left-Wing Extremism (LWE).

All the cadres, who surrendered before the police and paramilitary officials at the Police Lines in Jagdalpur, the headquarters of the Bastar district, were formally welcomed into the mainstream by tribal community leaders and priests who greeted them with red roses, symbolising love, peace and a new beginning.

The surrendered Maoists handed over 153 weapons, including 19 AK-47 rifles, 17 Self-Loading Rifles, 23 INSAS rifles, an INSAS LMG (light machine gun), thirty six .303 rifle, four Carbine and 11 Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL), a police official said.

The surrendered cadres, senior police and paramilitary officials and tribal community leaders later posed for photographs. The banner behind the stage read ‘Poona Margem - Punarwas se Punarjeevan - Maoist cadres rejoining the mainstream’.

Poona Margem (rehabilitation for social integration) is an initiative launched by Bastar Range police for Naxalites.

Addressing a press conference later, CM Sai said 210 brothers and sisters, who were “misguided and

detached from society”, rejoined the mainstream, showing faith in the Constitution, the path of non-violence as shown by Mahatma Gandhi and the state’s rehabilitation policy.

The surrendered cadres include top leaders as well as lower-rung members, he said.