Ten Maoists surrender in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur District

Bijapur (Chhattisgarh), Dec.11 (ANI): Ten Maoists have surrendered along with their arms in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur District.

Superintendent of Police, Bijapur, Prashant Agrawal, said: "Influenced by the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the administration, ten Maoists have laid down their arms and expressed disappointment over the high-handedness of senior cadres."

The surrendered rebels are mostly from national park area committee of Maoist-hit Bastar region of the state.

Maoist insurgents are estimated to number 7500 hardcore fighters in nearly a third of India's 630 districts. While they have made few inroads into cities, they have spread into rural pockets in 20 of 28 states.

Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers. Thousands have been killed in the insurgency since the late 1960s. (ANI)