Chhattisgarh: Three Naxals carrying collective cash reward of Rs 18 lakh surrender in Dantewada

Three Naxals with a collective cash reward of Rs 18 lakh on their heads surrendered in Chhattisgarhs Dantewada district on Thursday, an official said.They were involved in multiple attacks, including in Minpa area of neighbouring Sukma district in 2020 in which 17 security personnel were killed, he said.

Three Naxals with a collective cash reward of Rs 18 lakh on their heads surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Thursday, an official said.

They were involved in multiple attacks, including in Minpa area of neighbouring Sukma district in 2020 in which 17 security personnel were killed, he said. The three laid down arms stating they were impressed by the police's rehabilitation drive 'Lon Varratu' and had become disappointed with the Maoist ideology, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Siddharth Tiwari said.

''Ritesh Hemla (30), who was section commander in the Maoists' company no. 2, was carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head. Ramesh Hemla (24) and Santu Hemla (28) were members of a Naxal battalion team and carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh each,'' the SP said.

They had been associated with the outlawed outfit since the last 10-11 years and were allegedly involved in several incidents, he added.

Police dubbed the development as significant as it took place on the first day of the outlawed group's 'martyrs' week', observed by Maoists every year from July 28 to August 3 during which they step up their activities against security forces.

Officials said, in view of the week, patrolling has been beefed up in the forested interiors of all seven districts of Bastar division, namely Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Sukma and Kanker.

With these three laying down arms, a total of 549 Naxals, 136 of them carrying rewards, have so far quit the movement in the district under the 'Lon Varratu' (return to your home/village) campaign launched by police in June 2020, he said.

Under the 'Lon Varratu' (term coined in local Gondi dialect) initiative, Dantewada police have put posters and banners in the native villages of at least 1,600 Naxals asking them to return to the mainstream.