Raipur: Dantewada police has got one more achievement on the anti-naxal front in the red-rebel zone Dantewada.
Twenty four Naxals, including 12 women, have surrendered in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Dantewada district, police said on Wednesday.
The cadres, who were active in the south Bastar region, surrendered themselves before police on the occasion of the Republic Day on Tuesday, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said.
Out of which three of the rebels were carrying rewards of Rs 1 lakh each on their heads, he said.
The SP said the cadres expressed dissatisfaction with the "hollow" so-called Maoist ideology.
The Naxals were highly impressed by the district police's 'Lon Varratu' (return to your home/village) rehabilitation campaign, prompting them to quit the violence, he said.
Among those who surrendered, Aaytu Muchaki (31), head of Chikpal-Junglepara Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangthan (DAKMS-frontal wing of Maoists), Baman Denga Sodhi (40), head of Chikpal-Schoolpara DAKMS, and Kamli Madkam (32) were carrying rewards of Rs 1 lakh each on their heads.
The other 21 rebels were active as lower rung cadres, the SP said.
The surrendered Naxals were provided an immediate assistance of Rs 10,000 each and will be provided facilities further as per the government's surrender and rehabilitation policy, he said.
Under the 'Lon Varratu' (term coined in local Gondi dialect which means 'return to your village/home') initiative, Dantewada police have put up posters and banners in native villages of at least 1,600 Naxals, mostly carrying rewards on their heads, appealing them to return to the mainstream.
As part of the drive, the cadres who have surrendered are also being provided skill development training for their rehabilitation, the official said.
Since the drive was launched in June last year, 272 Naxals have so far surrendered in the district.
