14 Naxals surrender in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district

Raipur: Fourteen Naxals, one of them allegedly involved in an attack wherein 25 security personnel were killed in 2017, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said on Sunday.

The cadres on Saturday turned themselves in before police officials in Dantewada town, located around 400 km from the state capital Raipur, saying they were impressed by the police's rehabilitation drive 'Lon Varratu' and disappointed with hollow Maoist ideology, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said.

Out of the 14 rebels who surrendered, Sanna Markam (21), who was active as a LOS (local organisation squad) member of Maoists, was allegedly involved in the Burkapal Maoist ambush in neighbouring Sukma district wherein 25 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in 2017, he said.

Markam was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, the official said.

The other surrendered ultras were active as militia members and allegedly involved in incidents of damaging roads, planting explosives and putting up Maoist banners and posters, he said.

They all will be rehabilitated as per the state government's policy, he added.

So far, 454 Naxals, including 117 who carried rewards on their heads, have quit the violence in the district under the 'Lon Varratu' (term in local Gondi dialect for return to your home/village) campaign launched by police in June last year, the official said.

Under the initiative, the Dantewada police have put up posters and banners in the native villages of at least 1,600 Naxals, mostly carrying cash rewards on their heads, and appealed to them to return to the mainstream.