Visakhapatnam: Twelve active Naxals surrendered before the Andhra Pradesh Police in Chintapalle area of Visakhapatnam district on Saturday during People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) week.

The Naxal members surrendered before Chintapalle Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Vidhya Sagar Naidu and belonged to villages of Pathrudigunta of the Galikonda area, Panasalabanda, Akuluru, and Ramagadda.

Giving information about the surrender, Naidu said, "The militia have become vexed with the barbaric acts of Maoists such as branding people as informers and killing them based on mere speculation."

ASP Naidu said that the Naxal and people in general, have become more aware of the development programmes that they have been 'missing out' due to the Naxal activity in their area and that they have been observing how the police department has been conducting various 'community-centric' activities along with the civic action programs of CRPF in the area.

"The militia has opined that they have been coerced by Maoists and in many villages across the Vizag agency area, people are working for Maoists due to death threats by them and not out of their will. The villages have been traditional strongholds of Maoists and important crossing points for them. Surrender of militia from those areas is surely an indication of diminishing strength of Maoist party in Chintapalli Subdivision," the ASP added.

Agencies