A ‘Chetna Natya Mandali’ commander, an illegal offshoot of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), had turned up before the security forces and surrendered on July 15 in the insurgency-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
The development occurred when Muchaki Kosa, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on his head for his involvement in several incidents of violence, shunned the outlawed Maoist outfit citing his disappointment with the ideology.
It’s been reported that Kosa worked with the Chetana Natya Mandali, a cultural wing of the banned CPI (Maoist). The surrender occurred before the (Sub-Divisional Police Officer) SDPO Sukma Parmeshwar Tilakwar and (Central Reserve Police Force) CRPF’s Ranvijay Kumar.
In a separate incident, another senior Maoist leader from the district, Madakam Deva alias Bhagat (42), surrendered before the security forces in the Alluri Sitharam Raju district of Andhra Pradesh on July 13.
It’s been reported that Deva, a resident of Dabbakunta village under Chintagufa police station limits of Sukma, was working with the banned outfit for over a decade and was involved in killing over 190 security personnel. He was carrying a bounty of Rs 5 lakhs.
Earlier in a similar development, a female Maoist carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh had also surrendered before the police on July 6. It’s been learnt that the surrendered Maoist, Kawasi Bheeme, was inspired by the ‘Poona Narkom campaign’ (A new Morning) being run by the district police.
It was reported that Bheeme was an active member of the Dakshin Bastar Battalion No. 01 of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army, armed wing of the proscribed CPI (Maoist). She was involved in a number of attacks on the security personnel including the 2017 Burkapal and Minpa village ambush in 2018.
The security forces have been running continuous counter insurgency operations in the district lately which has resulted in the arrest and surrender of several active cadres of the Maoist organisations. In a similar operation being conducted in the district last week, the security forces had also managed to neutralise two cadres of the Maoist outfit who were carrying a combined bounty of Rs 11 lakhs on their heads.
Earlier in June, a number of cadres, including a Maoist couple carrying a reward of Rs 6 lakh, had also surrendered before the police and officials of CRPF in Sukma. The surrendered couples were later identified as Sodhi Joga and his wife, Veko Kosi. It was then reported that the couple were part of the zonal technical committee of the outlawed CPI Maoist and had been active in the banned outfit for a long.
A large number of Maoist cadres (44), including nine female Maoist, had also laid their arms before the police in Chintalnaar police station in January this year. The surrender took place before the then Sukma SP Sunil Sharma. Those who surrendered before the authorities had asserted that they were fed up with the hollow ideology of the Maoist and the discrimination they faced in their day-to-day affairs.
It is to be noted that the Sukma police, along with the CRPF officials, have been running special campaigns like ‘Poona Narkom’ in the Maoist-affected district for a couple of years. The pilot project aims to motivate local tribal youths misled by the Maoist outfit into acts of violence against the country.
So far, the pioneering campaign in the district has met enormous success as hundreds of local tribal youths who were once fighting for the Maoist outfit have turned themselves before the authorities by shunning the path of violence and joining the mainstream. The campaign’s success has also contributed immensely to building good rapport among the security forces among the locals, as all those who have surrendered under the campaign have been provided with financial aid and other facilities under the state government rehabilitation scheme for the Maoist.
A number of those who surrendered have also been given priority in the recruitment of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), an all-tribal unit of the state government operating in the Maoist-affected regions of the state famously known as the ‘son of soils.’
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