Chhattisgarh: Four Maoists carrying ₹23 lakh bounty surrender in Kanker

RAipur: foursome thomas more Maoists, including a cadre mired in the 2009 Madanwada lurk that killed 29 certificate personnel, surrendered in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Wednesday, a senior police officer said.“The four, among them two women, collectively carried a reward of ₹23 lakh. They surrendered before senior police and Border Security Force (BSF) officials under the Poona Margem (from rehabilitation to social reintegration) initiative,” Kanker senior superintendent of police (SP) I K Elesela said in a statement.The initiative, launched by the Bastar range police, has emerged as a “long-term effort for peace building and social reintegration” across the seven districts of the region, Elesela’s statement added.Police officers said that among the surrendered cadres, Kajal alias Rajita Vedada (19), a member of Company No. 10 of the Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) division of the Maoists, carried a reward of ₹8 lakh, while three others — Manjula alias Laxmi Potai (37), Vilas alias Chaitu Usendi (42) and Ramsai alias Lakhan Marrapi (42) — carried bounties of ₹5 lakh each.Potai, a member of the west Bastar division’s technical team, was involved in 16 Maoist-related incidents between 2006 and 2025, including the 2009 Madanwada–Korkoti ambush in which then Rajnandgaon SP Vinod Choubey and 28 other personnel were killed, police said.Marrapi, an area committee member, was involved in more than 42 Maoist-related incidents from 2004 to 2025, including the 2008 Gumdideeh–Konde ambush that killed six personnel and the 2019 Mahla attack in which four jawans were killed.Under the state’s rehabilitation policy, all four were provided immediate assistance of ₹50,000 each.“The Chhattisgarh government’s rehabilitation policy has been attracting Maoists. Families want their members to leave violence behind and return to normal life,” Elesela said.“Maoists should abandon their misleading and violent ideology and rejoin society without fear. The ‘Poona Margem’ policy ensures that those who come back receive a secure, dignified and self-reliant future,” he added.Also Read: Maoists in MMC zone seek time till Feb 2026 to surrender, ask 3 states to halt opsMore than 2,380 Maoists, including several senior cadres, have surrendered in the state in the last two years, according to the police.Meanwhile, the state Cabinet approved the procedure for scrutiny and withdrawal of cases against surrendered Maoists under the Chhattisgarh Naxal Surrender/Victim Relief and Rehabilitation Policy 2025. The policy allows consideration of case withdrawal based on the good conduct of surrendered cadres and their contribution to anti-Maoist efforts.The Centre has set a target of eliminating Maoism from the country by March 31, 2026.