Five members of the banned CPI (Maoist) surrendered before Superintendent of Police (Visakhapatnam rural) Vikramjeet Duggal, here on Friday.
The surrendered Maoists belonged to Galikonda Area Committee and each carried a reward of Rs. 1lakh on their head.
The surrendered include 18-year-old Vanthala Rajitha alias Kusi, Malleswar Rao, Pangi Mahesh, Sindri Mahesh and Sindri Parmesh. All of them hailed from Kannavaram village of Koyyuru mandal in Visakhapatnam Agency.
According to the SP, all the five were hardened cadres and Rajitha enjoyed a reputation of being a very ferocious member. They were involved in several incidents of exchange of fire with the security forces and a number of famine raids. “They also ran a number of Maoist camps in the Agency area and the famine raids at Chedithali, Sultanputu and Gorlimetta, among them,” said Mr. Duggal.
The police have been trying to apprehend them for the last three to four years and they also came close, a couple of times, in cordon and search operation, but the Maoists somehow sneaked through. “We also tried communicating with them through their family members and friends, asking them to surrender and finally, it seems to have fructified,” said the SP.
Surrendering before the SP, the Maoists said health ground was the major factor for their surrender and they also did not understand the ideology well. According to Mr. Duggal, the surrendered members confessed that they joined the movement in the ‘fit of the moment’ but were not happy with the movement, as it did not serve the purpose for their village.
The surrendered Maoists will be immediately given the reward that is on their head and the rehab package will follow, and they can join the mainstream immediately, said the SP.
Mr. Duggal told The Hindu , various activities of the police such as Sadbhavana Yatra was yielding positive results in weaning out the cadres from the movement, and they expect many more surrenders in the next couple of months.
