SIXTEEN Maoists, with six of them carrying a combined bounty of Rs 39 lakh, surrendered before the Jharkhand Police here on Tuesday, a senior officer said. Santosh Mahto alias Basudev Da alias Dilip, who was wanted in 128 cases and carrying a Rs 15 lakh reward on his head, was among those who surrendered, he said. “Of the 16 Maoists, six were carrying a total bounty of Rs 39 lakh on their heads. Five women members were also part of the group. A regional committee member and a zonal committee member are among them,” the officer said. Two sub-zonal committee members and two area committee functionaries were among those who surrendered, he said. The surrender of Santosh Mahto, a regional committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist), was one of the big achievements for the Jharkhand Police, the officer said.

 

“Santosh was wanted in 128 cases registered at various police stations in several districts. He was accused of being involved in an IED blast in a forest under the border police stations of Manoharpur, Chotnagar and Jhariakela on March 1, injuring a jawan of the Cobra battalion,” the officer said. Jharkhand DGP Tadasha Mishra termed the surrender of Maoists as another “big achievement for the state police”. “We are committed to eliminating extremism and crimes from the state. The Jharkhand Police are working towards their commitment to make the state clean,” she said on the occasion. Proscribed CPI (Maoist) zonal committee member Chandan Lohra, who was wanted in 78 cases and was carrying a bounty of Rs 10 lakh, surrendered, he said. The Maoists laid down six INSAS and two AK-47 rifles besides 38 magazines and 1,562 cartridges, the police added.