Gariaband (Chhattisgarh) [India], August 25 (HBTV): In a significant breakthrough for Gariaband Police, four Naxals have surrendered.

Inspector General, Raipur Range, Amresh Mishra, described it as an important achievement for the police and the state. ‘This is an unprecedented success for Gariaband Police, this area, and for the state. Four Naxal cadres, who were active for the last decade in this region, have surrendered with their weapons,’ he said.

The surrendered Naxals, who carried a total bounty of INR 19 lakh, were later felicitated by the police. Mishra added: ‘They told us that the youth in Naxal organisations want to leave this path of violence and come to the mainstream, but they are being held captive.’

Meanwhile, one jawan was killed and two others injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast triggered by Naxalites in Bijapur district’s National Park area on Monday.

According to IG Bastar P Sundarraj, the incident occurred during an anti-Maoist operation by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) team. The injured personnel are in stable condition after receiving first aid and are being evacuated for further treatment.

Earlier on August 14, security forces neutralised two senior Naxal cadres during a gun battle in Chhattisgarh’s Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district. Vijay Reddy, a member of the Dandkaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) with a bounty of INR 90 lakh, and Lokesh Salame, Secretary of the Rajnandgaon-Kanker Border (RKB) division with a reward of INR 26 lakh, were killed in the operation carried out jointly by Chhattisgarh Police, the DRG, and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

The encounter, which took place on August 13, was described as a major blow to Naxal operations in the Dandkaranya region and along the Rajnandgaon-Kanker border. Weapons and other Naxal-related materials were recovered from the site.

At a press conference in Mohla, Superintendent of Police YP Singh and Commandant of the 27th Battalion ITBP Vivek Kumar Pandey said that the slain Naxals were senior cadres of the North Bastar and RKB division. ‘With their elimination, an era of Left Wing Extremist terror and atrocities has ended,’ officials stated.

Vijay Reddy, also known as Chinanna, Naganna, and Shankar, aged 55, was a resident of Balarampuram Mandal, Atmakur, and had long been considered one of the most feared Naxal leaders in the region.

(ANI)