Wanted Maoist commander Geeta, with a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on her head, lays down arms

In yet another breakthrough in the Chhattisgarh government’s anti-Naxal campaign, a top female commander of the group has surrendered in Kondagaon district.

 

Geeta, alias Kamli Salam, who carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on her head, laid down her arms before Superintendent of Police Akshay Kumar.

 

According to police sources, Geeta cited disillusionment with the movement and inspiration drawn from the recent wave of surrenders for her decision. The intensified anti-Naxal operations and growing internal discord are also believed to have prompted her to give up the militancy.

 

Geeta, who held the position of Tailor Team Commander in the East Bastar Division, has been granted an immediate incentive of Rs 50,000, and will be provided further rehabilitation benefits under the Chhattisgarh Naxalism Eradication Policy.

 

Her reintegration will follow the state’s comprehensive framework aimed at restoring lives once lost to extremism, the officers were quoted as saying by IANS news agency.

 

They were also of the opinion that her surrender indicates the collective reckoning of a movement losing its grip on the ground it once fiercely held.

 

Geeta’s surrender came a day after 210 Maoists, including a Central Committee member and four Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee leaders, surrendered before Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday.

 

They also handed over 153 weapons, ranging from AK-47s to grenade launchers.

 

It followed a similar incident in Maharashtra earlier this week when senior Naxalite Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi surrendered before police, along with 60 other cadres in Gadchiroli district.

 

Bhupathi, a member of the central committee and Politburo, carried a bounty of Rs 6 crore.

India