RAIPUR: In yet another mass surrender in Bastar division, as many as 52 cadres of CPI (Maoist), including 21 women, renounced the banned outfit in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Thursday.
Of them, 49 carried a cumulative bounty of over Rs 1.41 crore.
“Impressed by the Poona Margham (social reintegration through rehabilitation) campaign of the Bastar police, 52 Maoists, including 21 women cadres associated with the South Sub Zonal Bureau, turned themselves in before senior police and Central Reserve Police Force officials to join the mainstream of society,” said Bijapur district superintendent of police Jitendra Kumar Yadav.
Those who surrendered were active in the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOB Division), Bhamragarh Area Committee (Maharashtra) and the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), the SP added.
Among them, Lakkhu Karam, a divisional committee member, and platoon party committee members Laxmi Madvi and Chinni Sodhi carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh each.
In Bijapur district, from January 2024 onwards, a total of 876 Red rebels have joined the mainstream, 1,126 Maoists have been arrested, and 223 Maoists were killed in separate encounters, the district police chief said.
The necessary official legal procedures are under way for the rehabilitation and reintegration of the 52 surrendered cadres into society. ‘Poona Margham’ has emerged as a significant step towards lasting peace and positive transformation in the Bastar region.
“The Bastar division has taken a firm resolve for the year 2026 to ensure the complete elimination of the remaining Maoist networks and to establish lasting peace and robust security,” said Sundarraj Pattilingam, Bastar Range Inspector General of Police.
After surrender, Maoists receive an initial financial incentive of Rs 50,000 each. Besides, if such cadres wish to undergo skill training or set up a small business, they are provided with further financial support, free housing, healthcare, farmland and other amenities under the new surrender and rehabilitation policy.
As a result of the state government’s comprehensive Naxal eradication and rehabilitation policy, along with consistent efforts towards peace, dialogue and development, Maoist cadres in large numbers have decided to relinquish the violent path, the Bastar police stated.