Sunita, a 23-year-old Maoist carrying a ₹14 lakh bounty, surrendered in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh on November 1.
She handed over her weapons to Rupendra Dhurve, assistant commander of Hawk Force, the state’s elite anti-Maoist unit.
Originally from Gomveta village in Bijapur tehsil of Chhattisgarh, Sunita served as an armed guard to Ramder, a senior leader of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist). Authorities from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh jointly announced the bounty on her head.
After joining the Maoist movement in 2022, Sunita operated across Madhya Pradesh, Gondia in Maharashtra, and Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh. She received combat training in the Madh region of Chhattisgarh. During her surrender, she submitted an INSAS rifle, three magazines, 30 rounds of ammunition, and a UBGL shell.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav praised the surrender, attributing it to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s firm directive urging Maoists to surrender or face consequences. He highlighted that Sunita’s surrender is the first under the Madhya Pradesh Surrender, Rehabilitation cum Relief Policy 2023. Moreover, it marks the first time since 1992 that a Maoist from another state has surrendered to the MP government.
Over the past 10 months, the state has neutralized Maoists with a combined bounty of ₹1.46 crore. The government views Sunita’s surrender as a breakthrough in its reform-oriented approach to tackling extremism.
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