HYDERABAD: In a significant development in Chhattisgarh, 22 Maoists, including nine women, surrendered before security forces in Sukma district on Friday. According to police, twelve among those who surrendered carried a combined reward of ₹4 million on their heads.
Each surrendered Maoist was provided ₹50,000 in immediate financial assistance, and officials stated that they would be brought under the government’s rehabilitation scheme. Police highlighted that this is part of a continuing trend, revealing that around 792 Maoists surrendered in the Bastar region—including Sukma—last year alone.
Earlier this year, on 7 April, 26 Naxalites surrendered, and just days prior to that, a mass surrender of 70 Maoists had also taken place.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated the government’s commitment to eliminating Naxalism during the 86th Raising Day function of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), held on Thursday in Neemuch district, Madhya Pradesh.
Shah remarked that the Maoist presence has now been confined to just four districts and expressed confidence that the movement would be entirely eradicated by 31 March next year. He credited the CRPF as the backbone of anti-Naxalite operations and praised their efforts in dismantling the insurgency.
