RAIPUR: Twenty three senior Maoist cadres, including nine women, carrying a collective reward of Rs 1.18 crore renounced the banned outfit and surrendered in strife-torn Sukma, south Bastar on Saturday.
Those surrendered included eleven hardcore members who were cited to have been active in the military wing Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Army battalion no.1 of the CPI (Maoist), a senior police officer said.
The cadres who left the banned outfit stated that they realised the “hollow, anti-development ideology” of the Maoist organisation and expressed disenchantment over the growing differences within the outfit.
The Sukma district police have released the list of the cadres who surrendered. Ramesh alias Kalmu Kesa, Lokesh alias Podiam Bhima, Madkam Hunga, Kawasi Masa, Punem Deve, Nuppo Gangi, Paraski Pandey, Madvi Joga, Nuppo Lachchu, Dudhi Bheema and Podiam Sukhram carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh each, a senior police official said.
Four other cadres carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh each, one cadre Rs 3 lakh and seven cadres Rs 1 lakh each, he said. On Friday, 22 Red rebels engaged in the Abhujmad area of Sukma's adjoining district Narayanpur and carried a cumulative bounty of Rs 37.5 lakh have surrendered.
Chief minister Vishu Deo Sai reiterated that the Maoist rebels now choose the path of development over the barrel of a gun as a total of 1,499 have so far surrendered under the current government.
The surrendered Maoists will get the initial financial incentive of Rs 50,000 each. Besides, if the surrendered cadres wish to undergo skill training or set up a small business, they will receive further financial support, will be provided with free housing and healthcare, farm land among other amenities under the new Maoist Surrender Rehabilitation Policy.