Nagpur: Two members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) surrendered to the police in Gadchiroli district on Wednesday.
“Jaya alias Shanti Masu Mattami and Ranita alias Sunita Namdev Kodape surrendered in the presence of SP Abhinav Deshmukh. Both carried a combined reward of ₹6 lakh on their heads,” the Gadchiroli police said in a statement. Ms. Mattami joined the military wing, People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), in 2012 as a member of Bhamaragad Dalam. In 2013, she was shifted to the PLGA platoon no.14, and in 2017, she was made the deputy commander of the platoon. She was wanted in 29 cases: 11 murder cases, six cases of arson, and 12 cases of attack on police teams. She carried a reward of ₹4 lakh on her head.
Ms. Kodape joined Aheri Dalam in 2013, and was transferred to Sironcha Dalam in 2016. She was an accused in eight cases of murder, four cases of arson, and 11 cases of attack on police teams in the district. She carried a reward of ₹2 lakh on her head.
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The police termed the surrender a setback to the Maoists and a success of the State government’s surrender policy. “Maoists had forcibly taken away Ms. Kodape from her parents when she was 13 years old. We hope these two surrenders will encourage others to shun the path of violence,” the statement said.
In a separate incident, an Indo Tibetan Border Police jawan was injured in an IED explosion triggered by Maoists in Narayanpur district. “An IED blast occurred two kilometres from Dhanora police station on Dhanora-Orchha road at around 8.30 a.m., when security forces were carrying out the road opening duty. Head constable Yelappa Koppad was injured and taken to Narayanpur for treatment,” a police officer said.