BASTAR: Wanted Maoist commander Rupesh, alias Takkalapalli Vasudev Rao (Satish), pledged on Friday to “work for and with the people in a constitutional manner” as he led a group of 210 PLGA fighters with a combined bounty of Rs 9 crore on their heads in Chhattisgarh’s largest mass surrender in its history of Left-wing extremism.Representatives of Manjhi, Chalki and Aayta tribal communities welcomed the surrendering Maoists to the venue in Jagdalpur with red roses, while CM Vishnu Deo Sai termed the occasion “a historic day”. The group, 111 of them women, deposited a cache of 153 weapons that included AK-47s, SLRs, INSAS rifles and BGL launchers.CM Vishnu Deo Sai termed the occasion “a historic day”.“They are all our people who were misled and have now reposed trust in the Constitution and state’s rehabilitation policy. Those who killed, and others who got killed, were all people of this soil. We decided that there must be an end to this,” he said. Chhattisgarh govt said all surrendered Maoists would receive rehabilitation assistance, housing, and livelihood support. They will be linked to skill development and education programmes to enable dignified reintegration.
