Raipur: Seventeen Naxalites including the senior Maoist commander Dinesh Modiyam of divisional committee member rank surrendered before Bastar police and CRPF in Chhattisgarh on Thursday. They carried a cumulative cash reward of Rs 24 lakh.Dinesh had reportedly surrendered about ten days ago with his wife and their child and the police have shown them along with other surrendered cadres.The former cadres said to police that they were disappointed with the “hollow” and “inhuman” Maoist ideology, exploitation of innocent tribals by senior cadres and increasing influence of security forces, Bijapur Senior Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav told reporters in a press briefing.Police said that the most prominent figure to surrender was Dinesh Modiyam, the DVCM of the Gangaloor Area Committee, who had a cash reward of Rs 8 lakh bounty on his head. He surrendered with his wife Jyoti Tati, an ACM with Rs 5 lakh bounty.Surrender of Dinesh along with 16 others is being considered as a big blow to Maoist formation while their spokesperson Samta had already issued a statement accusing Dinesh and wife of eloping with the money of the formation and having surrendered before the “enemies”.Dinesh Modiyam, the surrendered DVCM, made an emotional appeal to his former comrades. He wrote a letter and read it out in the press conference in Bijjapur stating that he has himself written it, “For 20 years, I walked the path of violence and was with the Maoist organization, I thought I was fighting for the rights of Naxalites but it only brought suffering to our people. I urge my brothers and sisters still in the forests to lay down their arms, join the mainstream, and build a better future for our families and villages with the support of the government.”The big Maoist commanders force innocent youths to join the ranks in the name of jal-jungle-jameen and are misleading them, he said, adding that their ideology is full of violence and extortion of money from contractors.“They wish to oppress the tribals and make them slaves and when the villagers object then they get brutally killed. The small cadres often die of hunger, illness. I came out from the darkness to spend a good life in the mainstream and I have got a new life. I appeal to the Maoist cadres to shun the path of violence and come out of the forest to live a normal life and avail the benefits of govt’s surrender and rehabilitation policy,” Dinesh said.Among those who surrendered include a Divisional Committee Member (DVCM), two Area Committee Members (ACM), two Militia Platoon Commanders, a Janatana Sarkar President, DAKMS (Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangh) President, KAMS (Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan) President, two Janatana Sarkar Vice Presidents, a Platoon Deputy Commander, four Janatana Sarkar Members, one GPC (Gram Panchayat Committee) Member.The surrender was facilitated through coordinated efforts by the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Bastar Fighters, Special Task Force (STF), CRPF battalions (85th, 196th, 199th, 222nd), and COBRA units (202, 204, 205, 206, 210). Senior officials, including DIG Dantewada Range Kamalochan Kashyap, SP Bijapur Jitendra Kumar Yadav, and multiple CRPF and COBRA commandants, were present during the formal surrender event.Each surrendered Maoist was given an immediate cash incentive of Rs 25,000 under the state government’s surrender policy.
Chhattisgarh: Dreaded Maoist commander surrenders with 16 cadres, appeals Naxals in Bastar to shun violence | India News
