Raipur: Twenty-two Maoists, including a divisional committee member, carrying a bounty of Rs 8 lakh on his head, surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Friday.
According to the police, the surrendered Naxalites were active in the Abhujmadh area and carried a collective rewards of Rs 37.5 lakh. They belonged to the Kutul, Nelnar and Indravati area committees under the Maad division of the banned CPI (Maoist).
The 22 turned themselves in before senior police, Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officials.
The surrendered rebels told odficials that they were disenchanted with the “hollow” Maoist ideology and growing internal differences within the banned outfit, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Robinson Guria said.
“They were also influenced by the development work being carried out in the Maad area in the district, including rapid construction of roads, and wanted to lead a normal life,” he said.
Among those who laid down arms are Manku Kunjam (33), a divisional committee member, with a reward of Rs 8 lakh and three area committee members, identified as Hidme Kunjam (28), Punna Lal alias Boti (26) and Saniram Korram (25) with bounties of Rs 5 lakh each, the police said.
Eleven others had a bounty of Rs 1 lakh each, while the remaining seven carried a reward of Rs 50,000 each, an official said.
Narayanpur police, its District Reserve Guard, ITBP and BSF have played a key role in their surrender. The development has caused a huge blow to the top Maoist cadres. The dream of Naxal-free Maad is now taking shape, Guria said.
All the surrendered Naxalites were provided assistance of Rs 50,000 each and would be rehabilitated as per the government’s policy, he added.
With this surrender, 132 Naxalites have quit violence in the district so far this year.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the success and said that Naxalites now want to shun guns and walk together on the path of development. The ‘double engine’ government is committed to rooting out Left-Wing Extremism from the country by March 31, 2026, he said.
“22 Naxalites carrying a bounty of Rs 37.5 lakh have surrendered in Narayanpur district. Rewards ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 8 lakh had been declared on them. So far, 1,476 Maoists have surrendered to our government (formed in December 2023),” Sai said in a statement.
The laying down of arms by so many Naxalites points to the success of the government’s new surrender and rehabilitation policy and public welfare schemes, he said.
“Schemes like ‘Niyad Nellnar’ (your good village) have instilled confidence, and people have been quitting violence and returning to the mainstream of development. We are fully determined for the rehabilitation of these surrendered Naxalites,” the CM added.