Chhattisgarh: Wanted naxal couple surrenders before security forces in Dantewada

A naxal couple, involved in several deadly attacks and together carrying a reward of Rs 7 lakh, surrendered before the security forces in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Tuesday, police said.

Hurra Kunjam and his wife Budhari Madvi turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials, citing disappointment with the hollow Maoist ideology and exploitation of lower-rung cadres by senior ultras, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Siddharth Tiwari said.

Kunjam was the section commander of platoon number 24 under Malangir area committee of Maoists and his wife was a member of the same squad, he said, adding that they carried rewards of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh on their heads respectively.

"The couple was involved in the Burkapal (Sukma district) Maoist ambush in 2017, in which 25 security personnel were killed, and the Mailwada (Dantewada) landmine attack in 2016, in which seven CRPF personnel died," the official said.

With this, at least 539 naxals, including 130 with rewards on their heads, have so far quit violence in the district under the 'Lon Varratu' (return to your home/village) surrender and rehabilitation campaign, which was launched by the district police in June 2020 by the district police, he said.

Under the 'Lon Varratu' (term coined in local Gondi dialect) initiative, the Dantewada police have put 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.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)