In a major breakthrough for the internal security of India, Pahad Singh, the senior leader of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) has surrendered to the Chattisgarh Police on Thursday. He carried a bounty of Rs. 1 crore on his head and is believed to have been involved in over 80 cases against him out of which 40 cases have been filed in Gadchiroli alone.
Pahad Singh, who is an active member of newly formed Special Zonal Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh Committee (SZMMC), belongs to Rajnandgoan district of Chattisgarh and his surrender is pegged to be a big step forward in ending the Left wing terror in the country. Maharashtra Police had announced a reward of Rs. 16 lakh to whoever gives any information about Pahad Singh. In fact, even Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh governments had announced rewards of Rs. 25 lakh each on Singh.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Durg, GP Singh said that the reason for the surrender of Pahad Singh was the rising disillusionment against the left wing Maoist ideology. The IG said that Singh was fed up with huge discrimination that exists in his party between the cadres of Andhra Pradesh and the local ones. “The local cadres were also seen as outsiders and are always under suspicion for AP and Maharashtra cadres,” the IG added. Reportedly, after his surrender Singh said that Maoists are not following any ideological war but running an extortion racket.
DM Awasthi, Special Director General of Police (Naxal Operations) said that Pahad Singh’s surrender is one of the most important surrenders in the recent past. It is reported that the security agencies have been working on the newly formed SZMCC for the last couple of years and many Maoists have been arrested and many neutralised. “Due to the immense pressure of security forces, more surrenders will take place in the next few months,” said he said.
Reportedly, the intelligence agencies have issued warnings that the Left wing terror groups are expanding in MMC (Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh) consisting of areas of Balaghat, Gondia, Rajnandgaon, Mungeli and Kawardha districts. However, the surrendering of the Naxals has been high in the recent months, as the security forces are carrying full scale operations against the Naxals in the states of Chattisgarh, Maharasthra and Jharkhand. Hundreds of left-wing terrorists have surrendered in the past few months and seeking to re-build their lives. The combination of the developmental projects and intense security operations in these areas, have resulted in shrinking down of naxals forces in the country.
