Developmental activities, together with the Chhattisgarh government’s rehabilitation-cum-surrender policy, are emerging as a wind of good change in the worst insurgency-hit Bastar region, and a notable illustration of this is naxal cadres abandoning the path of violence to enter the mainstream of society. Realising the hollow ideology of banned outlawed organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist) and indiscrimination with the organisation, Sundari alias Lalita, who was associated with the banned organisation for 10 years and carrying a bounty of Rs 8 lakh, quit naxal movement and now, she is serving as a constable in District Reserve Guard (DRG). Presently, Sundari is playing a leading role in the battle against naxalism and registering her active participation in anti-naxal campaigns for the safety of the public. Due to meticulous planning and strategy of Sundari, security forces succeeded in arresting and eliminating naxal cadres during the encounter. Sundari, who surrendered with her husband to police, revealed that several teenagers wanted to surrender but were unable to do so due to a lack of access to police. The woman naxal was forcedly inducted into the outlawed group when she was 15 years old, and she was initially part of the outfit’s cultural arm. Sundari was promoted to the ‘A’ firm after working in several positions.
Sundari was a significant figure in the ambushes that killed numerous security officers in the Bastar region. She also disclosed that Andhra Pradesh naxal leaders exploit youths in the organisation. Sundari went around the clock to the district headquarter, crossing impenetrable forest, hills, rivers, and nullahs to surrender and join the mainstream of civilization.Senior leaders in the banned organization belonging from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, said Bastar Range Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P, elaborating that they (naxal leaders) managed to induct innocent youths by misleading them in the name of forest, land and water.
After joining the naxal organisation, the youths learn about the true face of naxalism, he added. In the last 22 years, naxals have killed over 1700 people by branding them as police informers or by other reasons, said the IG.
The officer further said that naxalism is the biggest obstacle in the development of Bastar.