In a significant development in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, a Maoist couple carrying a cumulative reward has surrendered before the authorities on Monday, October 14, said police.
Varun Raja Muchaki alias Unga (27) and Roshani Vijaya surrendered before the officials of the police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) by shunning the path of violence.
Unga was active as a commander of the Bhamragarh Local Organisational Squad (LOS) while Roshani was an active cadre of the same unit. The male cadre Unga has been named in as many as 15 cases, mostly related to encounters with the security forces. He was carrying a bounty of Rs 8 lakh on his head, said a release issued by the police.
The other Maoist cadre Roshani has a total of around two dozen cases registered against her for which a reward of Rs 2 lakh was announced on her by the government. The surrendered couple will receive Rs 11.5 lakh as per the government’s surrender and rehabilitation policy, it added.
With the latest addition on Monday, the number of hardcore Maoists who have turned themselves before the police and surrendered since 2022 has reached 27, a commendable achievement by the forces who have been running continuous campaigns in forested zones of Gadchiroli, a Maharashtra district marred by Red Terrorism since long.
जहाल माओवादी दाम्पत्याने केले गडचिरोली पोलीस व सीआरपीएफ दलासमोर आत्मसमर्पण.#atmsamarpan #naxal #surrender #gadchiroli #gadchirolipolice #माओवादी #आत्मसमर्पण pic.twitter.com/KdZ6xxFmiT
— गडचिरोली पोलीस – GADCHIROLI POLICE (@SP_GADCHIROLI) October 14, 2024
The district touches the boundaries of Abujhmaad region, a hotbed of Maoist insurgency in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on the eastern side, forming the strongest bastion of outlawed CPI (Maoist) where the forces have strengthened their presence in recent years.
Maoists claims 35 of its men killed in Abujhmaad’s Thulthuli encounter
In a related development, the Eastern Bastar Division Committee of CPI (Maoist) in a press release issued has claimed that the outfit has suffered loss of 35 of its cadres during the Thulthuli encounter that took place on October 4.
The Mao’s men in the release have claimed that the figures pertaining to its cadre killed in the action was 35, adding 4 more fatalities on the Maoist’s side in the encounter which dealt a major blow to the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) battalion no 06, the armed wing of the dreaded outfit.
The operation was launched by a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force on credible inputs which culminated in significant losses to the Maoist group.
Hundreds of personnel of separate units were involved in the major campaign under which the personnel travelled a distance of around 30 kilometers on foot, crossing over difficult terrain to reach the destination where they eventually came face to face to the Maoists on October 4.
The gun fight lasted for several hours resulted in major success for the security forces who managed to eliminate a total of 31 Maoist cadres. It was later revealed that those killed in the exchange of fire were carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 2.15 crores. A cache of weapons, ranging from AK-47 to Self-Loading Rifles, Insas Rifles, and Light Machine Guns (LMGs) were also recovered from the site of encounter.
