Raipur. Police in Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh have announced that those who help the police in arresting or killing Naxalites will be recruited as constables and will be given a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh. In the pamphlet distributed in the Naxal affected villages of this district bordering Madhya Pradesh, it is written, “Give information and get reward.” If any person gets the Naxalites caught or on his information, if the Naxalite is killed in an encounter, then that person will be given a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh and a government job by the Kabirdham Police and on surrender, a cash reward will be given.
Kabirdham district superintendent of police Abhishek Pallav said, “We have distributed pamphlets and pasted posters of our new proposal in Maoist-affected villages in the last two days. “We have also sent messages on WhatsApp to mobile phone users in Naxal-affected villages of the district.” He said, “Rs 5 lakh will be immediately given to the villagers for providing information that leads to the arrest or killing of the Maoist. This amount will be in addition to the reward announced by the state/central government on any Naxalite.”
Pallav said, “The person giving the information will also be recruited as a constable in the district police without facing any examination. However, the person concerned must satisfy the educational and physical standards.” The Superintendent of Police said that anti-insurgency operations have been intensified in Bastar region, so if the Naxalites from there try to shift to their new base on the Chhattisgarh-Madhya Pradesh border, where they do not have widespread support like Bastar, then this Kind offers will help. He told that the police is busy gathering intelligence about the Naxalites.
Pallav said, “There is already a provision in the surrender and rehabilitation policy to give government jobs to those who help in the arrest or killing of Naxalites, but for the first time it has been announced in a transparent manner so that the villagers know about it.” Go and take advantage of it.” According to the police, Naxalites have been trying to establish their new base in the tri-junction forest of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (MMC-zone) since 2017-18. This includes Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh), Gondia (Maharashtra) and Rajnandgaon, Mungeli and Kabirdham districts of Chhattisgarh.
Police said the 'expansion platoon' of the Maoists is overseeing the expansion of their activities in the MMC zone. According to him, 'Vistaar' platoon of Maoists is active in Kanha-Bhoramdev division (which includes parts of Kabirdham-Chhattisgarh and Mandla, Balaghat and Dindori districts of Madhya Pradesh).
The Superintendent of Police said, “In the last five years, three Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters with the police in Kabirdham district and six Naxalites have surrendered.” He said, “There are about 41 villages on the interstate border in Kabirdham district, where movement of Naxalites has been reported in the last two years. “Out of them, 16 villages have been identified as most affected.” The police officer said, “So far we have sent messages about the new proposal to 35 thousand mobile phones being used in these villages for information about Naxalite activities and in the next one week, one lakh mobile phone users will be included. “The target is 100 percent reach in the 16 villages which have been identified as most affected.” He said, “Later we will do door-to-door physical verification in these villages to check whether they have information about the proposal or not.” Pallav said that in the last one month, three new police camps have been set up on the interstate border in the district and three more camps will be set up soon.
He said, “Efforts are being made to seal the interstate border to stop the movement of Naxalites.” He said that the Naxal-affected villages of the district are inhabited by Baiga tribe, a particularly vulnerable tribal group, hence efforts will be made to ensure the benefits of Janman schemes in these areas.