Wanted Maoist Geeta, carrying Rs 5 lakh bounty on head, surrenders in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, Oct 18 (IANS) In a continuing wave of defections from the insurgency, Geeta, alias Kamli Salam, a female Maoist commander active in Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon district, surrendered to police authorities on Saturday.

Her decision comes just a day after the largest mass surrender in the state's history, when 210 Naxalites, including senior leaders, laid down arms in Jagdalpur, indicating a seismic shift in the region's decades-long conflict.

Geeta, who served as Maoists Tailor Team Commander in the East Bastar Division, had a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on her head, announced by the Chhattisgarh government.

She surrendered before Superintendent of Police Akshay Kumar, citing disillusionment with the movement and inspiration drawn from the recent wave of surrenders.

According to police sources, she was influenced by intensified "anti-Naxal" operations, growing internal discord, and the symbolic gesture of rebels embracing the Indian Constitution during Friday's ceremony in Jagdalpur.

The Jagdalpur surrender saw 210 Maoists, including a Central Committee member and four Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee leaders, hand over 153 weapons, ranging from AK-47s to grenade launchers.

The event, attended by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, was hailed as a testament to the government's strategy of trust, dialogue, and development over violence. Geeta's surrender adds to the momentum.

Under the Chhattisgarh Naxalism Eradication Policy, she has been granted an immediate incentive of Rs 50,000, with further rehabilitation benefits underway.

Officials said her reintegration will follow the state's comprehensive framework aimed at restoring lives once lost to extremism. Her return to the mainstream is emblematic of a broader unravelling within the Maoist ranks.

With 238 rebels surrendering over the past three days, including Friday's mass defection, the Bastar region is witnessing a rare moment of hope.

Security forces believe this trend could mark a turning point in the fight against Left-Wing Extremism.

As the state continues its dual-pronged approach, security forces pressure coupled with rehabilitation outreach, Geeta's story may serve as a powerful narrative for others still in the fold.

Her surrender, though solitary, echoes the collective reckoning of a movement losing its grip on the ground it once fiercely held.

--IANS

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