Another mass surrender in Bastar, 72 Maoists give up gun

RAIPUR: In a yet another mass surrender, 72 Maoists and their sympathisers gave up guns in strife-torn Narayanpur region in tribal Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.
Among them were 62 Maoists and their 10 grass root level supporters, belonging to remote villages of Abujmarh, surrendered before police and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Three of them were active local guerrilla squad (LGS) members, eight are members of Maoists' cultural wing Chetna Natya Manch and four are Janatana Sarkar group members.Besides, 45 others were associated with the outlawed movement as Jan militia members.
Narayanpur additional superintendent of police Anil Soni said the rebels themselves turned up at Kurushnar police station to surrender claiming being fed up with the Maoist way of life and violence and want to return to mainstream.
He said one of the main reasons for Maoists surrendering was the pressure being mounted by the security forces coupled with the attractive surrender and rehabilitation policy of the state government. He alo said those surrendered would be entitled for rehabilitation as per the policy.
Soni also told that some of them were involved in several incidents of murder, arson and attacks on security forces.
Earlier this month, 38 Maoists including three women had surrendered at Narayanpur. According to Bastar police the trend of surrender began early this year and at least 987 Maoists and their supporters had surrendered before.
Civil rights and other groups, however, have been describing these mass surrenders as a propaganda farce, claiming many as fake and forced surrenders.