As many as 12 Naxalites carrying a bounty of crores surrendered along with their weapons before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday. This is the first such incident of Naxal surrender along with their weapons. The surrendered Naxals include DVCM (Divisional Committee Member) Sapanakka, (wife of DKSZCM Geereddy Pavanananda Reddy) along with three senior cadres of DVCM rank along with one Commander, two Dy Commander, four ACM and one-party member. Maharashtra Government had announced a total cash reward of Rs 1.12 crore cumulatively on them. The CM reached Kawande village on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border. He became the first Chief Minister of the state to visit this extremely remote and Naxal-affected area. “We presented a copy of the Constitution of India to the surrendered Naxals today. Industries like Lloyd’s have made a big contribution in rehabilitation of the surrendered Naxals.

 

We want to make this district employment-rich and develop it as the steel city of India. While doing this, the government is determined to do this development while preserving the natural resources, water, land and forests here,” said Fadnavis while speaking on the occasion. The C-60 jawans of the district police who performed commendable jobs while fighting against the Naxals were felicitated by Fadnavis. Speaking on the occasion, Fadnavis said, “Today I visited Kawande Outpost and interacted with the villagers. Our police force built Kawande Outpost in just 24 hours.

 

This is not just a police station, but an initiative to bring Government administration to the people. Where there was a lack of security, Government administration is being brought to the people by opening police stations. In the last two years, 6 such outposts have been built, he said. In the last one and a half years, 28 Maoists were killed, 31 Maoists were arrested, and 44 people surrendered. This is a new record. Many who had huge bounties on them are now leaving Maoism and returning to normal life.” “Our battle is now in its final stage. Our soldiers carried out very difficult operations in Kawande. Our target is to eliminate Naxalism by March 2026. Naxal recruitment had completely stopped in Maharashtra for 4 years. Union Home Minister Amit Shah took very strict steps and now Naxalism is on the verge of ending,” said Fadnavis. Co-Guardian Minister Ashish Jaiswal, MLA Dharmaraobaba Atram, MLA Dr Milind Narote, Lloyds Metals and Energy Managing Director B Prabhakaran, DIG Ankit Goyal, District Collector Avishyant Panda, SP Nilotpal, Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) and Guardian Secretary Milind Mhaiskar, Ajai Kumar Sharma, Dy. Inspector General (Ops.) CRPF, D E Kindo, Commandant 37 Bn CRPF, M. Ramesh, Addl SP (Ops), Satya Sai Karthik, Addl SP Aheri and other dignitaries were present at the programme.

 

 

 

 

A mass marriage ceremony of 13 former Naxalites who had surrendered earlier was also organised at Shaheed Pandu Alam Auditorium in the Police Headquarters in the Gadchiroli on Friday by the Police Department. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attended the ceremony and wished the newlyweds a happy new life. The newly-married couples were felicitated by Fadnavis. The surrendered Maoist couples who were tied in nuptial knot included Giridhar (in charge of Gadchiroli Divisional Committee) and Lalita among others. On this occasion, the police themselves acted as hosts for the surrendered Maoists.

 

All the couples were gifted household essentials by the Chief minister and other dignitaries to help them start their new lives. Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd. contributed for organising this event as part of their CSR activities. Co-Guardian Minister Ashish Jaiswal, MLA Dharmaraobaba Atram, MLA Dr Milind Narote, Lloyds Metals and energy Managing Director B Prabhakaran, DIG Ankit Goyal, District Collector Avishyant Panda, SP Nilotpal, Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) and Guardian Secretary Milind Mhaiskar, Ajai Kumar Sharma, Dy. Inspector General (Ops) CRPF, D E Kindo, Commandant 37 Bn CRPF, M Ramesh, Addl SP (Ops), Satya Sai Karthik, Addl SP Aheri and other dignitaries were present at the programme. The Gadchiroli Police has been organising mass marriage ceremonies for the tribal couples for the last several years. This time it was a special ceremony of the mass marriage of the surrendered Naxals. In the evening, he felicitated the C-60 jawans and presented them with state-of-the-art AK-103 weapons and ASMI pistols, bulletproof jackets. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also praised their bravery. The keys of 19 four-wheelers purchased from the District Planning Development Fund were handed over to the police force. Chief Minister Fadnavis also distributed the benefits of schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Food Security Yojana, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, MNREGA Job Card, Screening and Anemia Checkup, Aadhaar Update, Caste Certificate etc.