15 Senior Maoists Surrender In Chhattisgarh; Eastern Red Corridor Collapses

The significant development comes ahead of the March 31 deadline to eradicate Naxalism.

The 15 senior Maoists surrendered along with automatic weapons before the police at the district headquarters of Mahasamund in Chhattisgarh on Sunday morning, Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma, who holds home portfolio, said.

The surrendered Maoists included secretary of West Sub-Zonal wing of Maoists Vikas, who was in the rank of special zonal committee member (SZCM).

The other surrendered Maoists comprised two divisional committee members (DVCMs), five area committee members (ACMs), and seven platoon members (PMs).

The surrendered Maoists comprised nine women cadres.

All the 15 surrendered Maoists belonged to the BBM division of Naxals, Mr. Sharma said.

According to him, the cadres brought AK 47 rifles, two self-loading rifles (SLRs), three .303 rifles, three 12-bore guns, two INSAS rifles and one 14 muskets (a .303 rifle without a magazine) along with them to surrender.

With the surrender of 15 Maoists, the BBM division ceased to exist.

“Today’s rehabilitation is very important. Fifteen Maoists from Balangir- Bargarh- Mahasamund division have surrendered. Only 15 members were left in this division and all of them have laid down arms”, Mr. Sharma said.

With this, the Eastern Red Corridor along Chhattisgarh- Odisha border has collapsed, a senior police officer said.

“The BBM division of Maoists has historically formed a critical part of the corridor used by Maoists to move along the jungle between Odisha and Chhattisgarh. While they are part of the larger Red Corridor (which encompasses Central / East India), the BBM division specifically operates as a vital link between Odisha- Chhattisgarh border zones”, the police officer said, unwilling to be quoted.

The BBM division operating area served as a key transit point for the Maoists during their movement from East Corridor to Central Corridor, the police officer said.

In another significant development, security forces have recovered two arms and cash dumps of Maoists Gariaband district in east Chhattisgarh, police said on Sunday.

Inputs by a surrendered Naxal has led to recovery of the two Maoist dumps, the police officer said.

The recovery was made from Sanpsati, a forested and hilly region, under Badegobra under Mainpur police station limits, police said.

The two Maoist dumps yielded a cash of Rs 46, 31,500 and ammunition and electronic gadgets.

The dumps were hidden by the senior cadres of the outlawed movement’s Dhamtari-Gariaband- Nuapada (DGN) division.