Villagers foil Naxals' bid to reprimand surrendered cadres

An overwhelming number of Maoists quitting the outlawed movement recently in the state's Bastar region has apparently upset the Naxals, who are reprimanding surrendered cadres and their kin in remote areas, a senior police official said.
However, such an attempt to corner the surrendered cadres in Sukma earlier this week was vehemently protested by the villagers, following which the Naxal leaders had to retract.
"There were inputs of Naxals forcefully calling up surrendered ultras and their family members to hold meetings with them in remote pockets of Dantewada and Sukma districts of south Bastar this week," Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, S R P Kalluri told PTI.

The exact reason behind these meetings is being investigated.
As per inputs, Naxals were planning to conduct a trial of around 40 surrendered cadres by holding 'jan adalats' (people's courts) in Sukma, but a large number of villagers prevented them following which, the Maoists had to release them, Kalluri said.
A similar meeting was reportedly held in Aalnar region of Dantewada, the IG said.

"It is a good sign that villagers are raising their voice against the Naxal violence. Gradually, people have realised the futility of war waged by rebels. If it continues, no more Naxal problem will exist in Bastar," he said.

Around 300 rebels have surrendered so far this year in the insurgency-riddled state which has worried the top brass of the banned CPI (Maoist), he added.
As per a senior police official, the recent meetings in Sukma and Dantewada were reportedly meant to kill the surrendered lower rank cadres, including sangham members and janmilitia and create an atmosphere of terror among the tribals.
However, their attempts were foiled by villagers.
The intervention by a large number of villagers prompted the senior Maoist leaders to take back their decision, the official said on condition of anonymity.