Maoist zonal commander surrenders in Ranchi

RANCHI: In what the Jharkhand Police claimed as a major success, a top commander of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist) surrendered in Ranchi on Wednesday.

Police top brass, including DGP DK Pandey, staged a surrender ceremony for Deepak Sahu alias Tilakman before media personnel in its state headquarters in Dhurwa. Sahu, the police said, had 34 cases registered against him. Sahu was carrying a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head.

DIG Ranchi range RK Dhan said the 29 year old was the zonal commander in the outfit looking after Gumla-Simdega area. He surrendered under Nai Disha — the police’s rehabilitation and resettlement program for bringing armed rebels to mainstream. The police said Sahu did not carry any weapons at the time of surrender.

According to Simdega police, Sahu, originally resident of Palkot in Gumla, was active in the Maoist ranks since 2002 and had played part in seven gun-battles against the police in between 2004 and 2015. Sahu led the assault on Bansjore police station in Simdega on December 31, 2007, where a policeman was killed in gunfight. He had been promoted as zonal commander by the outfit following that.

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