22 Maoists, including 12 carrying Rs 40 lakh bounty, surrender in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district

NEW DELHI: Twenty-two Maoists, including nine women, surrendered to security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Friday, with 12 of them carrying combined rewards worth Rs 40.5 lakh.
The surrender came as they expressed disillusionment with Maoist ideology and were influenced by the state government's development initiatives.
The surrendered cadres were active members of the Maad (Chhattisgarh) and Nuapada (Odisha) divisions of Maoists. They turned themselves in before senior police and Central Reserve Police Forces officials.
"They were disappointed with hollow and inhuman Maoist ideology and atrocities on local tribals," said Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan. He added that they were impressed by the state government's 'Niyad Nellanar' scheme and new surrender and rehabilitation policy.
Among the surrendered Maoists were Muchaki Joga, a 33-year-old deputy commander in PLGA company no. 1, and his wife Muchaki Jogi, 28, both carrying rewards of Rs 8 lakh each.
Two area committee members, Kikid Deve and Manoj alias Dudhi Budhra, both carrying rewards of Rs 5 lakh each, also surrendered.
Seven of the surrendered cadres had bounties of Rs 2 lakh each, while one carried a reward of Rs 50,000. The group was involved in multiple attacks on security forces.
The district police, District Reserve Guard, CRPF, and its elite unit CoBRA played significant roles in facilitating the surrender.
Each surrendered Maoist received immediate assistance of Rs 50,000 and will be rehabilitated according to government policy.
The surrender follows a larger trend in the Bastar region, where 792 Maoists had surrendered across seven districts, including Sukma, in the previous year.