195 Naxals surrender in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: 195 lower rung Naxals, including 24 women, on Sunday surrendered in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

"Altogether 195 Maoist cadres belonging to Janmilitia or Janatana Sarkar wing of Maoists surrendered before senior police officials during a programme at Narayanpur district headquarters," Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena told PTI.

They were active in Abhujmad area, considered to be a Maoist den, around 300 kms away from here.

The programme was attended by a large number of villagers from Abhujmad who took pledge not to support Maoists and chanted slogans against them, the SP said.

"Villagers are getting increasingly fed up with violent Maoist activities and want to see development in Abhujmad," the SP said.

Expressing their desire to join the mainstream, the surrendered cadres said they were frustrated with "continuous exploitation, atrocities and violence by Naxals", he claimed.

The surrendered cadres are from 24 villages of the region including Gumiyabeda,?Okpaad, Mohndi, Nelnaar, Ikpaad, Murnaar, Nirameta and Kodkanaar, he added.

Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) SRP Kalluri and other officials were present on the occasion.