Coming as another blow to the Communists and naxals, 32 Maoists have surrendered at Dantewada in Bastar division to the authorities out of which six of them had bounties on their head.
Dantewada SP Abhishek Pallava said, “the surrendered Maoists were influenced by the ‘Lon Varratu’ campaign being carried out by the police in the district. Lon Varratu means ‘Return Home’ in the local tribal dialect Gondi.”
The government has been working very hard with their overreach programs under the “Chhattisgarh Surrender and Rehabilitation policy”.
In recent times many Maoists have surrendered to the police due to government outreach programs. Also, due to internal squabbles, five Naxals who carried bounty ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh on their heads were killed by their colleagues in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district.
So far 150 Maoists have surrendered under the ‘Lon Varratu’ campaign.
The Maoists are a violent armed wing of the left and have been waging a relentless campaign for decades against the Indian state. Over the years they have been responsible for killing many civilians and security forces. However, in the last few years, they have lost significant momentum.