Amid a crackdown by security forces on Left Wing Extremism, at least 16 Naxals, including the two carrying a cumulative bounty of ₹13 lakh on their heads, surrendered in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday. Among them, Arun Kadti (21) was a member of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion No. 1 of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), said Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav.

Kadti, who carried a reward of ₹8 lakh on his head, was involved in the 2024 attack on security forces in Tekulagudem in Sukma in which three CRPF personnel were killed and 14 others injured, he said.

Another Naxal, Ramesh Hemla alias Munna (42) carried a reward of ₹5 lakh on his head. He was the Matwada Local Squad Organisation (LOS) Commander as well as an Area Committee Member (ACM), Yadav said, adding that a total of 42 warrants were pending against Hemla.

They were given an immediate assistance of ₹25,000 each, and will be provided facilities as per the government's surrender and rehabilitation policy, he said.

Notably, security forces have turned up the heat on Naxals in areas affected by Left Wing Naxalism in Chhattisgarh.

In a second major encounter in 15 days, ten Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces on the border of Narayanpur and Kanker districts on Tuesday, 30 km away from Kalper village in Kanker where 29 Naxals were killed in a gunfight with security forces on April 16, police said.

As many as 91 Naxalites have been killed this year so far in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region which comprises seven districts including Narayanpur and Kanker, according to police.

(With Agency Inputs)