Two women Maoist activists surrender in West Bengal

KOLKATA: Two women Maoist activists from Purulia in Jangalmahal surrendered on Monday before the West Bengal director general of police Naporajit Mukherjee. Champa Hembram and Sikha Hansda reached West Bengal state administrative headquarters in Writers' Buildings on Monday afternoon and surrendered before Mukherjee. Both the owmen hail from Balarampur police station in Purulia district which is a part of Maoist-infested Jangalmahal.

Informed sources in the state home department said on Monday that the two women had been contacting the Purulia superintendent of Police, C. Sudhakaran for the past few days and expressed willingness to surrender after they came to know about the rehabilitation package offered for them by Mamata Banerjee's government. It is Sudhakaran who had assured the two red ultras that the government will offer them the entire compensation package which include a monthly stipend once they agreed to surrender. Following the Purulia police chief's commitment about giving them the compensation, the two Maoist women activists agreed to come to Writers' Buildings on Monday to surrender.

While Sikha was the deputy commander of Ayodhaya Squad of the red ultras, Champa was a squad leader. Both of them were involved in killings of several people in Jangalmahal in the past four years. After surrendering to the state police chief, Sikha told reporters that top Maoist leaders used to torture women activists in the Maoist hideouts in jungles and ""I have decided to quit the organisation and bid a farewell to arms in protest against torture on us by some top Maoist leaders.""

Both the women activists were closely associated with Arnab Dam alias Vikram, a top Maoist leader who was arrested from a jungle bordering West Bengal and Jharkhand this month.

Meanwhile, surrender of two women Maoist activists is the second major development after Suchitra Mahato, a top Maoist activist and close associate of Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji, had surrendered before the chief minister Mamata Banerjee in March this year.