Maoist with ₹9.50 lakh on his head surrenders in Gadchiroli district

NAGPUR:SENIOR Maoist leader and a member of the high-power divisional committee of rebel’s north-gadchiroli division, Vilas alias Dasru Keye (44) surrendered before the district police on Friday, according to an official police statement.

Vilas alias Dasru Kolha (44) was carrying a reward of ₹9.50 lakh on his head, the statement here.

Operating under the northgadchiroli division on Chhattisgarh-maharashtra border, Vilas had 149 serious offences registered against him in the district.

He was member of the ‘Divisional Committee’ of Maoists and supervised the rebels’ activities in the district, it said.

Vilas surrendered before district Superintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawade and handed over an AK-47 assault rifle, three magazines and 35 rounds, it added.

Balkawde said that Vilas was the face of the red terror in the region and was active in the area since 2000. He served as Tipagarh Dalam commander from 2005 to 2007. “He had joined the Maoists in 2000 and was currently operating in north Gadchiroli.”

While surrendering before the district police, Vilas said that he was fed up with the Maoist ideology as they are misguiding the poor innocent tribals and opposing the development and welfare works of the government for their selfish goal, the release said. Vilas will get the benefits of surrender policy by the state government.

The district police described Vilas’s surrender as a big jolt to the ultra-left movement in the region. Balkawde claimed that such success to bring Maoists into the mainstream was the outcome of good surrender policy of the state government in which several militants have surrendered before the police.

Four divisional committee members, two commanders, two deputy commanders, 26 dalam/ company/platoon members and one ₹jan militia’ member have surrendered before Gadchiroli Police in the last one year, the release said.

(With agencies input)