Top Naxal commander carrying bounty of Rs 5 lakh surrenders along with wife in Raipur

Naxal couple, Ravi and Budhri, was involved in several incidents of loot, bomb blast and encounters.

RAIPUR: A top Naxal commander, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on his head, surrendered before the authorities in Raipur along with his wife on Thursday. 

According to ANI, Ravi - the dreaded Naxal rebel - surrendered before the Chhattisgarh Police along with his wife Budhri in Raipur.

His wife Budhri too carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on her head.

The Naxal couple is believed to be involved in abduction of then Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon from Sukma's Kerlapal in 2012, and several incidents of loot and bomb blasts.

During an interaction with the Chhattisgarh Police officials, Ravi said that he was asked to join the Naxalite movement to serve the poor people and take revenge from the government for allegedly suppressing the marginalised and the downtrodden.

''I was asked to join Naxals to serve people and defeat the government. I was involved in loots, bomb blasts and encounters. Later, I realised that it’s of no use to be with Naxals.''

Raipur: Naxal couple Ravi & Budhri, carrying bounty of Rs 5 lakhs each, surrenders before Chhattisgarh Police. Ravi says, 'I was asked to join Naxals to serve people & defeat Govt. I was involved in loots, bomb blasts & encounters. Later I realised it’s no use to be with Naxals' pic.twitter.com/Ovr61FVFFR — ANI (@ANI) August 2, 2018

Interestingly, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh had on Thursday urged the Naxals to surrender and join the mainstream or else the security forces were ready to "finish" them.

The Chief Minister had made this appeal while speaking at the passing out parade of trainee constables at the Police Training School in Mana Camp area.

Singh said that due to the action taken by the security forces, the state was heading in the direction of finishing the Naxal menace.

"The state government has given a strong message to Naxals that they should join the mainstream. Either they should surrender or security forces are ready to finish them. Now there is no way left for them," Singh said.

He said that it is due to the continuous efforts of the security forces that the Surguja district had been fully cleared of Naxals.

Singh asked the tribal population in the state to support the government to get rid of Left Wing Extremism.

Addressing the function, the CM said that it was for the first time in the history of Chhattisgarh that women will be joining the CAF.

Sops for police like the construction of 10,000 houses and an automated kitchen at the PTS, which will cook meals for nearly 600 personnel every day, were also announced by Singh.

The BJP veteran also sanctioned Rs 1.2 crore for the kitchen and claimed that work on building 6,000 houses for police personnel had already begun.

He said that gymnasium facilities, currently available at district and battalion levels, would be extended to sub-divisions and police stations as well.

Bulletproof jackets for police personnel will be procured every year while constables to inspectors would be given monthly response allowance to ensure they reach the site of an incident at the earliest, he said. 

A total of 526 constables, including 345 women, were commissioned into the Chhattisgarh Armed Force during the passing out parade.

(With PTI inputs)