Wanted Naxal surrenders before police in Chhattisgarh

A hardcore Naxal, who served as the bodyguard of a top rebel and carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, surrendered in Chhattisgarhs Rajnandgaon district on Monday, a police official said. After surrendering, Rajesh Toppa alias Ajit (30) in a statement said he was disappointed with the "hollow" Maoist ideology and the exploitation and violence committed by ultras on villagers, the official said.

He was a member of the Malajkhand area committee of Maoists and worked as the bodyguard of senior cadre Milind Teltumbde, who is in-charge of the Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh zone of Maoists, he said. Toppa, a resident of Naxal-hit Mohla area in Rajnandgaon, joined the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in 2009.

Since then, he was allegedly involved in several Naxal incidents on Chhattisgarh-Madhya Pradesh border, he said, adding that he was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head. The cadre was given an encouragement amount of Rs 10,000 and will be further provided an assistance of Rs 7.5 lakh as per the surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy, he said.

PTI COR TKP GK GK.