Raipur, Nov 26 || In a major success, 41 armed Maoist cadres, including 12 women, surrendered before senior police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday.
The group, which carried a combined reward of Rs 1,19,00,000 on their heads, decided to abandon violence and return to the mainstream.
The surrendered cadres belonged to some of the most sensitive formations of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), including five members of PLGA Battalion No 1, three area committee members, 11 platoon and area committee party members, several militia commanders and members, and office-bearers of front organisations such as DAKMS and KAMS.
Thirty-nine of them were part of the South Sub-Zonal Bureau, while the rest were attached to the Telangana State Committee and the Dhamtari-Gariaband-Nuapada division.
The surrender ceremony took place under the state government’s rehabilitation programme titled 'Puna Margem: Rehabilitation to Rebirth' and the Niyad Nellanar Scheme.