Mahasamund (Chhattisgarh), March 1 Fifteen Naxalites, including a member of the Special Zonal Committee, Vikas, surrendered to security personnel in the Mahasamund district on Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said.
According to police, the surrendering cadres, including nine women, belonged to the Balangir-Bargarh-Mahasamund division of Maoists and were active along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border.
Sharma, who holds the Home portfolio, described this as a significant step under the state government's rehabilitation policy.
"Today's rehabilitation is very important. Fifteen Naxalites from the Balangir-Bargarh-Mahasamund division have surrendered. Only 15 members were left in this division, and all of them have now laid down their arms," he told reporters in Raipur.
Among those who surrendered was Vikas, a member of the Special Zonal Committee. He was serving as the secretary of the West Sub-Zonal wing of the Maoist organization.
The surrendered cadres included six men and nine women. They turned themselves in with a cache of weapons, including three AK-47 rifles, two Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs), two INSAS rifles, and three .303 rifles, Sharma said.
Officials said that the group had established contact with security forces on Wednesday night, prior to formally surrendering.
According to officials, in the last two years, 532 Maoists have been neutralized, more than 2,700 have surrendered, and as many as 2,000 have been arrested in Chhattisgarh.
The Centre has resolved to eliminate Naxalism from the country by March 31 this year.
