IT Correspondent
Mumbai, Aug 4:
In a positive development, a Naxal in Dantewada (Chhattisgarh) gave up arms and surrendered in response to an appeal by police for “Ghar Vapasi” (return home) and as per promise given by him to his sister to come home to celebrate “Raksha Bandhan” on Monday.
He returned under the “Lon Varratu”, a local effort of the police in Dantewada, one of the worst-affected Left Wing Extremist areas in the country, where the Naxals are affiliated to CPI (Maoist). The scheme offers Naxalites to surrender to government authorities in return for a promise of being rehabilitated by giving an employment, to them.
The 22 year-old Malla Tamo, carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head, who had left home at the age of 10 years to join the “Maoist Baal Sangham” in 2008, returned home on 31 July, to meet his sister Linge, parents and two other siblings. His was inducted by his uncle into the Naxal activities. Then he joined platoon number 13 of the Naxals and subsequently became its Deputy commander. He was involved in several incidents in which police personnel lost their lives. He belongs to the Palnar village in the Dantewada district.
Police said his sister Linge, who could not even remember his face ever since he left home, had urged him to surrender before the police and lead a normal life. Eventually the duo celebrated Raksha Bandhan at a police station in Dantewada.
The platoon which he commanded, was the one situated in the ‘Bhairamgarh Area Committee’ of the Naxal cadres. Superintendent of Police (SP) of Dantewada Abhishek Pallava, said and added that since he was the platoon commander of the Bhairamgarh area, he was involved in all major incidents which claimed the lives of police personnel in the last decade.
Encouraged by Malla’s surrender, a few other former Naxalites have come forward to urge their siblings to return home. Among them is 28-year-old Badal, the former deputy commander of Platoon-26 who surrendered in March 2020 with his wife Kosi. He appealed to his sister Jogi Kasda, who is currently deployed as a security guard to Naxal commander Deva, the mastermind of the gruesome 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack and killing of former BJP MLA Bheema Mandavi in 2019. I appeal to my sister that she should lay down arms and surrender before the police to lead a normal life with the family, he said and added that after he surrendered, he has been provided with a good house and employment by the government. “I appeal to my sister to come back on this occasion of Raksha Bandhan” he was quoted having said by the police.
A similar appeal was made by Dashmi, whose brother Lakshman is still with the force. “I lost my husband Varghees in a police encounter last year and I do not want to lose my brother. I want him to return on this festival of Rakhi, she said. Dashmi, who had a Rs 5 lakh bounty on her head, surrendered in Jagdalpur on 23 July, 2020.
The police said the appeals are a having positive effect.. “We hope these appeals lead to good results and similar persuasion initiatives are taken by other surrendered Naxals as well,” the anti-Naxal operations head and IG (Bastar) P. Sundarraj said.
