Manpur (Chhattisgarh), Jun 18 (PTI) A senior Maoist cadre, who was a contractual teacher at a government school before joining the armed movement in 2000, on Wednesday surrendered in Chhattisgarh along with his wife, who was an area committee member, a police official said.
The Maoist couple, Jeevan alias Ram Tulavi (45) and his wife Agasa alias Aarti (38) -- carrying a collective cash reward of Rs 13 lakh -- surrendered in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki (MMAC) district, he said.
They turned themselves in before Inspector General of Police (Rajnandgaon Range) Abhishek Shandilya and other senior officials citing disillusionment with "hollow" and "inhuman" Maoist ideology and exploitation of innocent tribals by senior cadres, district Superintendent of Police (SP) Yashpal Singh said.
The duo was also impressed by the district police's drive 'Operation Prayas', aimed at bringing back Naxalites into the national mainstream, and terms of the state government's new surrender and rehabilitation policy, he said.
Personnel belonging to 27th and 44th battalions of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a central force, and the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a state police unit, played a crucial role in their surrender, he said.
The surrendered Naxalites were provided assistance of Rs 50,000 each and they will be rehabilitated as per the government's policy, Singh added.
Tulavi was active in the Maoist ranks as a divisional committee member, while his wife Agasa worked as an area committee member, and they carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively, said the SP.
They were active in the Abhujmaad area of the Bastar region, he informed.
Tulavi, a resident of Parvidih village in Mohla area, was working as a Shikshakarmi (contractual) teacher under the Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha mission at a government school before joining the Maoist ranks in 2000 due to frequent family fights, Singh said.
He worked with the Tipagarh (in adjoining Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra) formation of the Maoists from 2000 to 2003 and was later sent to teach at a Naxalite school in Abujhmaad, the SP said.
He married Agasa in 2007 and later functioned as a Local Organisation Squad (LOS) member between 2008 and 2011. Subsequently, he was again sent to Abujhmaad for teaching at schools set up by Naxalites for members of the armed movement. Tulavi was asked to teach members through MOPOS (Mobile Political School) of Maoists, the SP stated.
He was later elevated as an area committee member and then as a divisional committee member, Singh added.
According to an official release, Tulavi had studied till Class 12 (science).