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Raipur, Oct 18 (IANS) Amid the ongoing wave of defection from militancy, woman Maoist commander Geeta alias Kamli Salam, active in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district, surrendered before police officials on Saturday.
His decision comes just a day after the biggest mass surrender in the state’s history, when 210 Naxalites, including senior leaders, laid down arms in Jagdalpur, signaling a seismic shift in the region’s decades-old conflict.
Geeta, who worked as the tailor team commander of the Maoists in East Bastar division, had a bounty of Rs 5 lakh announced by the Chhattisgarh government on her head.
He surrendered before Superintendent of Police Akshay Kumar, citing disillusionment with the movement and inspiration from the recent wave of surrenders.
According to police sources, she was influenced by the intensified “anti-Naxal” operations, growing internal strife and the symbolic gesture of the rebels adopting the Indian Constitution during Friday’s ceremony in Jagdalpur.
210 Maoists, including a Central Committee member and four Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee leaders, surrendered in Jagdalpur, handing over 153 weapons ranging from AK-47s to grenade launchers.
The event, organized in the presence of Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, was hailed as a testament to the government’s strategy of trust, dialogue and development over violence. Dedication to Geeta increases the pace.
Under the Chhattisgarh Naxalism Eradication Policy, he has been given an immediate incentive of Rs 50,000, along with further rehabilitation benefits.
Officials said their reinvestment would follow the state’s broader framework aimed at restoring lives lost to insurgency. His return to the mainstream marks a broader revelation within the Maoist ranks.
With the surrender of 238 rebels in the last three days, including Friday’s mass defection, the Bastar region is witnessing a rare moment of hope.
Security forces believe that this trend could prove to be a turning point in the fight against left-wing extremism.
As the state continues its dual approach, pressure from security forces combined with rehabilitation outreach, Geeta’s story may still serve as a powerful narrative for others present in the region.
His dedication, though solitary, echoes the collective reckoning of a movement that is losing its grip on the ground it once held tenaciously.
–IANS
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