Gadchiroli Oct. 15 (District Correspondent) The surrender of 61 naxals along with their top leader Bhupati is the beginning of the end of Maoism and Maoism will be 100 percent eradicated, said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today.
He was speaking at the surrender of the naxals at the Pandu Alam Hall at Police Headquarters here.
A bounty of more than 5.50 crores was declared on these naxals who included 2 DKSZC members of the Maoist Central Committee, 10 senior cadres of the DVCM rank. They laid down their firearms before the chief minister. All these surrendered Maoists were welcomed into the mainstream of democracy by giving them a copy of the Constitution by the Chief Minister.
Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla, Commissioner of State Secret Service Shirish Jain, Additional DG Special Action Dr. Tchering Dorje, Special IG Sandeep Patil, District Collector Avishyant Panda, MLA Dr. Milind Narote, DIG Ankit Goyal, SP Nilotpal, CRPF DIG (Operations) Ajay Sharma, CEO Zilla Parishad Suhas Gade were prominently present
The Chief Minister said that 40 years ago, a senior Maoist leader like Bhupati, who started a new camp in Aheri, Sironcha and raised the Maoist movement, surrendered armed with 61 comrades today. “This is a very big event in the history of the country. A new history has been written with today’s surrender. Earlier, Maoism has been eliminated from North Gadchiroli and with today’s surrender, Maoism in South Gadchiroli is also being eliminated, he said. The Chief Minister appealed to the remaining 8 to 10 Maoists to surrender and join the mainstream, otherwise they will have to face the consequences.
Due to the battle of Gadchiroli part of Dandakarnya with Maoism for the last 40 years, this area remained backward. Since the start of the ‘People’s War Group’, the Maoists became active and created confusion among the youth here against the system. They thought to overturn the constitutionally created system and started a new system. However, realizing the reality that equality and justice can only come from the constitution written by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, those who started the Maoist movement are now surrendering.
The Chief Minister said that the state government is committed to bringing those who surrendered into the mainstream of the Constitution. Those who surrendered will be respected, there will be a positive change in their lives,” he assured. We will not stop until everyone is properly rehabilitated.” He explained that those who surrendered in the past have been given training and jobs in industries here, and in the future, they will also be rehabilitated by providing employment.
Chief Minister Fadnavis praised the policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to end Maoism by 2026. This policy has only two options, joining the mainstream through surrender or facing police action, which is leading to the eradication of Maoism from the country to a large extent, he said.
The Chief Minister congratulated the Gadchiroli Police and the CRPF for continuously planning anti-Maoist campaigns, arresting and eliminating Maoism and stopping the recruitment of new Maoists through development works. He announced an award of Rs 1 crore to the Gadchiroli Police Force for this historic achievement.
A large amount of industrial investment is coming to Gadchiroli, and this district is becoming a ‘steel magnet’. The investors are being allowed only on the condition of providing employment to 90 percent locals, and the intention is to provide employment to 1 lakh locals, he said. He mentioned the readiness of Lloyds Metals MD B. Prabhakaran in providing jobs to the surrendered naxals.
District Superintendent of Police Mr. Nilotpal informed in the introduction that 140 Maoists have been arrested since 2021, 81 Maoists have surrendered, while 93 Maoists have been killed.
