52 Naxalites surrender in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur
Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): As many as 52 Naxalites, 49 of them carrying a collective bounty of over Rs 1.41 crore, surrendered before the police in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Thursday, a senior official said.
The surrendered cadres, including 21 women, were active in Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), Andhra-Odisha Border division and Bhamragarh area committee (Maharashtra) of Maoists, they said.
They turned themselves in before senior police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials here under the “Poona” Margem (from rehabilitation to social reintegration) initiative, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav said.
According to the official, the cadres also said that they were impressed by the state government’s surrender and rehabilitation policy.
Of them, Lakkhu Karam, alias Anil (32), a divisional committee member, and platoon party committee members Laxmi Madvi (28) and Chinni Sodhi, alias Shanti (28), carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh each, he said.
Thirteen other cadres carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh each, 19 cadres Rs 2 lakh each and 14 cadres Rs 1 lakh each, he said, adding that 49 of the 52 surrendered Naxalites carried a collective reward of Rs 1.41 crore.
All the surrendered Naxalites will be provided an immediate assistance of Rs 50,000 each and rehabilitated as per the government’s policy, he added.
On Wednesday, 29 naxalites surrendered in the neighbouring Sukma district. Earlier, 63 Naxalites surrendered in the neighbouring Dantewada district on January 8, while 26 cadres shunned violence and joined the mainstream in Sukma on January 7.
More than 1,500 Naxalites surrendered in the state in 2025.
The Centre has resolved to eliminate Naxalism from the country by March 31 this year.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
