62 Naxalites in C’garh surrender

Raipur/ New Delhi: Sixtytwo “hardcore Naxals” surrendered before security forces in the poll- bound state of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, the police said, a development Union home minister Rajnath Singh described as a “huge achievement”.

Raipur/ New Delhi, Nov. 6: Sixty- two “hardcore Naxals” surrendered before security forces in the poll- bound state of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, the police said, a development Union home minister Rajnath Singh described as a “huge achievement”. Of the 62 Naxals, 55 surrendered with their arms and ammunition in Narayanpur district, IGP ( Bastar) Vivekanand Sinha said. The “hardcore Naxals” were working under the Kutul area committee of the CPI( Maoists), he said. “The surrender of such a large group of Naxals is definitely a positive development and it will have a psychological impact on the Maoist cadres,” he said over the phone, adding that more Naxals are expected to surrender in the coming days. Polling for the 90- seat Chhattisgarh Assembly is scheduled to be held in two phases — on

◗ Union home minister Rajnath Singh described the development as a ‘ huge achievement’

November 12 for 18 seats and on November 20 for 72 constituencies.

Most of the constituencies in the first phase fall in the state’s Bastar region. The Naxals have called for a boycott of the elections.

Soon after the surrender, the home minister said in a series of tweets that the success of the government’s surrender policy was pushing Naxal cadres to shun the path of violence.

“Happy to know that a large number of LeftWing Extremists have surrendered before the Police by giving up their arms in Chhattisgarh. I congratulate the state CM @ drramansingh, the DGP and the police force for this huge achievement,” he said.