Maharashtra: Naxalite carrying Rs 6 lakh bounty surrenders before police in Gadchiroli

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An official on Tuesday said that a Naxalite carrying a Rs 6 lakh bounty surrendered to police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district. The Naxalite, identified as Ganesh Gatta Punem (35), is a resident of the neighbouring Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, reported PTI.

Punem, per the PTI report, surrendered before Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Jagdish Meena. The police, in their statement, had said that Punem was hired as a member of the supply team at Bhamramgadh LOS in 2017 and promoted to deputy commander in 2018, reported the news agency.

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According to the report, he was involved in encounters in Mirtur and Timmenar, Bijapur, in 2017 and 2022.

The PTI report cited the police statement saying that Punem surrendered for a variety of reasons including a shortage of medical facilities and the misuse of development funding by senior cadres.

Reportedly, in accordance with Maharashtra and the Union government's rehabilitation strategy, the surrendered Naxalite will be given Rs 5 lakh.

According to the statement, 14 hardcore Maoists have surrendered to the Gadchiroli police in the last two years. Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Neelotpal has promised all necessary help to anyone wishing to surrender and integrate into regular society, the PTI report stated.

On Monday, three Naxalites were captured in separate locations in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, according to PTI, quoting police. The three had a total reward of Rs 2.1 lakh on them.

Ashok Korsa (25) was detained on Monday in the Bazarpara neighbourhood of Farsegarh, according to a police official. Korsa, who held a Rs 10,000 bounty, was involved in an IED detonation on a police officer's vehicle on May 15, he claimed.

The other two, Iriya Kadti, alias Bandu, and Laxman Phulsum, alias Lakhma, were apprehended on Sunday during an anti-Naxal operation in the Peddagelur area inside the Tarrem police station's jurisdiction, according to the official.

Bandu was the president of the Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangthan (DAKMS), a Maoist front group, and Lakhma was the head of the Chetna Natya Manch (CNM), the banned outfit's culture branch, he added. He added the duo carried a bounty of Rs 1 lakh apiece.

According to the PTI report, the two were involved in an attack on security forces in the forest near Gundam village in February of this year.