Barse was also allegedly involved in major Maoist attacks such as the Tehkawada and Kasalpada attacks in Sukma in 2014, which had left 15 and 14 security personnel dead respectively. (Source: Google image) Barse was also allegedly involved in major Maoist attacks such as the Tehkawada and Kasalpada attacks in Sukma in 2014, which had left 15 and 14 security personnel dead respectively. (Source: Google image)

Nine Maoists, one of them the gunman of senior Maoist commander in the South Bastar region Ganesh Uike, surrendered on Sunday, officials of the Chhattisgarh police said. Six of them carried cash rewards and warrants against their names, senior officials of the Dantewada district police said. Sundarraj P, DIG (Dantewada) range said that the Maoists had surrendered as they were “tired of the hollow Maoist ideology”.

Senior police officials said that the surrender of one of the men, Nande Barse, who was an area committee member, was of special significance as he had worked as the gunman of senior Maoist commander Ganesh Uike, the most infulential Naxals in the south Bastar region. Offficials said that his arrest was not only a blow to Maoist cadres as it signified disillusionment at senior levels, but that Barse could also provide valuable inputs for the future.

Barse was also allegedly involved in major Maoist attacks such as the Tehkawada and Kasalpada attacks in Sukma in 2014, which had left 15 and 14 security personnel dead respectively. Kamlochan Kashyap, Superintendent of Police Dantewada also told reporters that Sukka Madkam and Bheema Podiyami were also active military wing members of the Maoists and were involved in the Burkapal attack in April 2017 which left 25 personnel dead.

However, local residents of villages deep inside also arrived at the Dantewada district headquarters on Sunday and claimed that Barse and the others were picked up from their homes at 3 am while they were sleeping, and had not surrendered. The police dismissed these allegations as baseless.

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