Dantewada: A female Naxal carrying a bounty of Rs 10,000 surrendered at the Kuakonda Police Station in the Left-wing extremist affected Bastar division, police said. The Naxal identified as Chetna Natya claims to be inspired by the Lon Varratu campaign.
Lon Varattu is a Naxal return program launched in Bastar’s Dantewada district to affect the surrender of Naxals. ‘Lon Varratu’ means ‘Return Home’ in Gondi, the language spoken by the tribals in the region.
“The primary objective of this campaign is to encourage people who are foot soldiers or sympathisers of Naxals in the LWE [Left Wing Extremism affected] areas to get into the mainstream. The district administration is doing all that it can within its remit. To help them begin a new life, we are running skill-development programmes for them. We are making efforts to get them enrolled into schemes such as MGNREGA and creating self-help groups (SHGs) for them,” Deepak Soni, Dantewada district collector said while launching the campaign.
So far, 516 Naxals, including 127 who carried rewards on their heads, have quit violence in Dantewada district under the ‘Lon Varratu’ campaign.