Naxal woman with ₹5 lakh bounty surrenders to reunite with daughter in Chhattisgarh

The rebel, a native of Bijapur, cited hollow Maoist ideology, indiscriminate behaviour, harassment and affection for family as reasons for quitting the Naxal movement

A woman Naxalite, carrying a reward of ₹5 lakh on her head and wanted in several cases of attack on police, has surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district to reunite with her daughter back home, an official said on Sunday.

The rebel, identified as Somli Sodi alias Vanita (32), was working with the banned organisation from 2003 and was the commander of its Nagaram local organisation squad since 2018.

"She surrendered before police on Saturday for the sake of her daughter and family," Bijapur Superintendent of Police Anjneya Varshney said.

In her statement to police, the rebel, a native of Bijapur, cited hollow Maoist ideology, indiscriminate behaviour, harassment and affection for family as reasons for quitting the Naxal movement, the official said.

She had been part of a Naxal team that attacked police personnel engaged in providing security to Awapalli-Ilmidih road development project in 2004.

She was also part of the rebel team that triggered an IED blast followed by firing on police personnel at Awapalli in 2006, the attack on Rani Bodli camp of security forces in 2007 and other incidents, the official said.

After Vanita laid down the arms on Saturday, she was given a cash assistance of ₹10,000 under the State government's surrender and rehabilitation policy, the police said.