A woman Maoist leader carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh on her head, surrendered before Kolkata Police on Wednesday, a senior officer said.
Shakuntala Mahato, also known by several aliases including 'Pushpa', 'Pari' and 'Barsha', surrendered at the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar along with a firearm and 46 rounds of ammunition, Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Nand said.
"She was a zonal committee member of the CPI (Maoist) and had been active in several Maoist strongholds over the years. Her surrender is a significant success and reflects the shrinking influence of the insurgent movement," Nand said.
A resident of Belpahari in West Bengal's Jhargram district, Mahato joined the Maoist outfit in 2001 and subsequently became actively involved in insurgency.
Over the years, she operated across the Jharkhand-Odisha border and was associated with Maoist activities in several regions of eastern India.
Police described her surrender as a breakthrough in anti-Maoist operations.
Seated beside Nanda after her surrender, Mahato said she no longer believed the movement could achieve its objectives.
"The movement that is continuing now will not go very far. I surrendered with the hope that the government would provide me with housing and an opportunity to live with my family, as promised," Mahato said.
Appealing to other Maoist cadres still operating underground, Mahato urged them to return to mainstream society.
"I would like to tell those in our organisation who are still isolated from society to come back to the mainstream. The government is doing a lot of good work. Giving up arms and joining the path of development will benefit everyone," she said.
According to a senior police officer, Mahato was involved in planning several Maoist operations and had long been considered one of the prominent faces of the Maoist network operating across parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Born in Mechua village under Belpahari police station in Jhargram district, Mahato joined the Maoist movement at a young age.
Though enrolled in school, she never continued beyond the primary level. Initially associated with cultural activities within the movement, she later took up armed responsibilities and rose through the ranks of the organisation.
Police said she worked in several Maoist strongholds, including Belpahari, Dalma, Ghatshila, Parasnath, Bundu-Tamar and Saranda. She was also associated with senior Maoist leaders during the Lalgarh movement in West Bengal.
Her surrender comes weeks after the arrest of veteran Maoist leader Shraddha Biswas alias Bela, a member of the Jharkhand regional committee of the CPI (Maoist), by Kolkata Police. Another former Maoist, Madhai Patra of Hooghly district, had also surrendered recently.
"Several Maoist cadres and leaders have either been arrested, neutralised or have surrendered in recent years. We hope more members of the outfit will abandon violence and return to normal life," the Kolkata Police Commissioner said.
Rehabilitation of Mahato and further legal formalities would be undertaken in accordance with government policy, he added.
