51 Maoists surrender in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh
RAIPUR: 51 cadres of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), including nine women members, surrendered in an edgy district of Bijapur, about 350 km south of Raipur, on Wednesday. Twenty among them were carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 66 lakh on their heads, the police said.
“As many as 51 Maoist cadres decided to return to the mainstream, citing their frustration over the ‘hollow ideology’ of the banned outfit and impressed by the state government’s rehabilitation policy and development plans,” said Jitendra Yadav, Bijapur district superintendent of police.
It’s yet another significant achievement under the Bastar Range police initiative ‘Poona Margham: Rehabilitation through Reintegration’ in Bijapur, he added.
According to the district police press release, the surrendered Red rebels included five members of the PLGA (Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Army) battalion, seven members of area committees and platoon, three belonging to LOS (local organisation squad) group, besides one militia platoon commander, 14 militia platoon members, and 20 other lower rung members.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai cited to give up the armed struggle as the collapse of Left-wing extremism in the country. Across the Bastar region, around 450 cadres have relinquished the ideology of CPI (Maoist) in October.
Since the BJP came to power in December 2023 in Chhattisgarh, over 2,250 Maoists have surrendered in the State.