The anti -Naxal campaign in Bastar division of Chhattisgarh has got another major success. Two Naxalites were killed by security forces in an encounter on Tuesday on the border of Kondagaon and Narayanpur districts. An AK-47 rifle and the bodies of both Naxalites have been recovered from the scene.
Inspector General of Police (IG) of Bastar Range, Sundararaj P. said that after the encounter, the search operation is still going on in the area. The encounter took place at a time when a large number of Naxalites are surrendering due to the state government’s rehabilitation policy and ‘Loan Vararatu’ (return home) campaign.
Recently, 26 Maoists surrendered in Dantewada district, including three rewards. The surrender was at the District Reserve Guard (DRG) headquarters. It was carried out under the joint rehabilitation policy of Chhattisgarh Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the State Government.
According to IG Sundararaj, so far, a total of 953 Naxalites have surrendered under the ‘Lone Vratu’ campaign, including 224 prize Naxalites. The government is offering immediate assistance of ₹ 50,000, skill development training, agricultural land, home and other facilities under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai also appreciated the rehabilitation policies of the government towards the eradication of Naxalite. He said that a total of 1,314 Naxalites have surrendered so far. Many of them have also been appointed in third and fourth class government jobs according to their merit. The state government has arranged 15,000 houses for Naxalites surrendering.
The Chief Minister said that after the formation of the government, he had sent Home Minister Vijay Sharma to other states, especially Assam, so that the rehabilitation policies there could be studied. “We told the Naxalites to leave guns and return to the mainstream of development,” said Chief Minister Sai.
He claimed that Naxalism in Chhattisgarh is now in its final stages. In the last 18 months, 359 prize Naxalites have been killed, indicating that the state is rapidly recovering from Naxal violence.
Due to the sensitive rehabilitation policy of Chhattisgarh and the exact strategy of security forces, Bastar is slowly moving out of the shadow of violence and moving on the path of development.
