Bijapur/Dantewada, 23 May 

As many as 33 Naxalites, among them 24 carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 91 lakh, surrendered before security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Friday, police said.

The surrender came days after security forces gunned down Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and 26 other cadres in a fierce encounter in the forest of Abhujmad along the Bijapur-Narayanpur inter-district border on Wednesday.

Twenty-four Naxalites, including nine women, turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials in Bijapur, citing disappointment with "inhuman" Maoist ideology, atrocities on local tribals by outlaws, and growing differences within the banned outfit, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav said.

The cadres said they were also impressed by the state government's 'Niyad Nellanar' (your good village) scheme, aimed at facilitating development works in remote villages around security camps, he said.

Yadav said the development works being carried out in interior pockets, and villages getting access to basic amenities are also key reasons for the surrender.

The surrendered Naxalites were involved in attacks on security personnel, IED blasts and torching, he said.

Of them, Hanumant Rao Anganpalli alias Rakesh, 42, a company party member in PLGA battalion no. 2 of Maoists who was active since 1997, carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh, the official said.

He said seven other surrendered cadres carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh each, two cadres Rs 5 lakh each, two cadres Rs 2 lakh each, seven cadres Rs 1 lakh each, and one cadre Rs 50,000.

With this, 227 Naxalites have so far quit violence in the district this year, he said.

The official said apart from this, 119 Naxalites have been killed and 237 arrested in separate incidents in the district during this period.

Similarly, nine Naxalites, four of them carrying cash rewards, surrendered before police and CRPF officials in Dantewada, citing disappointment with growing differences in the outlawed outfit, harsh forest life, and "hollow" Maoist ideology, another police official said.

They also said they were impressed by the police's rehabilitation drive 'Lon Varratu' in the district and the state government's new surrender and rehabilitation policy, he said.

Of them, Anita Potam, 18, Biju Ram Telam,30, and Badru,50, carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh each, while Payku Podiyam, 26, had a bounty of Rs 50,000, the official said.

Police said the surrendered Naxalites were provided assistance of Rs 50,000 each and will be further rehabilitated as per the government's policy.

With this, 984 Naxalites, including 236 carrying bounties, have so far quit the violence in the district under the 'Lon Varratu' (a term coined in the local Gondi dialect, which means return to your home/village) campaign, launched in June 2020, they said.

In 2024, 792 Naxalites surrendered in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, including Bijapur and Dantewada, police said.