Woman Maoist With Rs 17 Lakh Bounty Surrenders In Chhattisgarh

A woman Maoist with a bounty of Rs 17 lakh surrendered before police in Chhattisgarh's Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai (KCG) district on Thursday, an official said, PTI reported. Kamla Sodi (30), turned herself in after being impressed with the state government's new surrender and rehabilitation policy. 

She had been active in the Maaad division of Bastar and the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh (MMC) zone of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), KCG Superintendent of Police Lakshya Sharma told PTI. 

KCG, which shares a border with Madhya Pradesh, is located 90 km away from the Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.

Sodi had been engaged with the banned outfit for 14-years and carried out organisational work and violent activities, including recruitment, propaganda, and planning attacks on security forces, the official said.

She was a hardcore member of the outfit's military wing and part of the team led by MMC zone commander Ramdar. She was wanted by the police in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, which had jointly declared a reward of Rs 17 lakh on her arrest, he said.

Hailing from Aarlampalli village in Sukma district, Sodi was active across the border regions of the three states.

She was provided an immediate encouragement amount of Rs 50,000, while further benefits under the Rehabilitation Policy-2025 are being processed, the official said. 

Last month, nearly 300 Naxalites surrendered in Chhattisgarh, while senior Naxalite Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi and 60 other cadres laid down their arms in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.

The Centre has resolved to eliminate Naxalism from the country by March 2026. 

With PTI inputs