Ten Maoists surrender, six arrested in Chhattisgarh

Ten Maoists surrendered while six were arrested on by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.

Inspector General (IG), Bastar, S.R.P. Kalluri, said that while ten Maoists had surrendered on their own, six others were arrested by the police.

"On the one hand, ten Maoists have given up on their ideology and adopted the democratic mindset and on the other hand, with the help of the DIG of CRPF and the work of 168 battalion, whose senior commander is Sunant Kumar, the Bijapur police has been successful in arresting six Maoists," he said.

Kalluri further said that the arrested Maoists were involved in the recent killing of two CRPF personnel in Avapalli.

"Some of the arrested Maoists were involved in the recent killings of two CRPF personnel near Avapalli while some were involved in the kidnapping of the village head," added Kalluri.

Among the ten Maoists who have surrendered, were a couple. The husband, Sampath, is the founder and commander of former Platoon 16 and worked for it for eight years. He is known to be an expert in making explosives and has also been involved in 27 serious crimes. On the other hand, his wife, Sarita has been involved in six serious crimes.

Sarita said that ever since her marriage to Sampath, she had never led a peaceful life.

"We had not gone there knowingly. Ever since we got married, we did not feel like staying there. It was tough to settle down as every time the police came, we had to run and hide and they did not allow us to go markets or anywhere else," said Sarita.

The other Maoists who surrendered alleged that they were subjected to physical exploitation and torture, which eventually forced them to surrender before the police.