Kabirdham
Donning the camouflage, wielding AK-47 and Insas rifles, they wreaked havoc on security forces even as their writ ran large on hundreds of villages in Chhattisgarh. For the top ranked Naxalites, carrying huge bounties on their head, the State was the enemy number one and the forces their main target.
But those are all a thing of the past for 38-year-old Libaru Korram alias Diwakar alias Kishan and 28-year-old Manglu Veko alias Teeju – both Gond tribals. It has been a few years since the duo surrendered aspiring to “lead peaceful family lives”.
They joined the mainstream of the society through the State government’s surrender and rehabilitation policy in Kabirdham district.
In May this year, Libaru passed the Class 10 open exams for the academic session 2023-24 conducted by the Chhattisgarh State Open School. But, Veko got supplementaries in two subjects in the same exam. He appeared in the supplementary exam earlier this month and awaits his result.
“The two surrendered Maoists were inducted as Constables in Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh on August 16,” Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said adding the two will now get a year-long police training.
Both Libaru and Veko were associated with the Maoists’ ‘Vistaar Platoons’ under the Kanha-Bhoramdev (KB) Division Committee of the Naxal organization. The ‘Vistaar Platoons’ seek to expand their activities in their newly formed Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh (MMC) zone.
Libaru, who was the Bhoramdeo Area Committee Head as well as a Divisional Committee Member (DVCM), carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head in Chhattisgarh and Rs 5 lakh in Madhya Pradesh.
The Gond tribesman from Hadapar village in Kondagaon district joined the Maoist outfit through one Sukhram of Kondagaon Dalam in 2008 and since served in various capacities. As many as 16 warrants were pending against him.
In 2021, Libaru got married to a Naxal woman cadre Laxmi alias Deve, with whom he surrendered in 2022. Interestingly, the police had recovered Rs 10 lakhs from a Maoist dump in a forest of Bakoda in Bhoramdev area following a tip off from Libaru on the day of his surrender.
“I clad a Maoist uniform once but the uniform of the police gives me a sense of responsibility towards my family to give them a better life. There was always a threat to my life in the path of Maoism but now I will serve for the betterment of my family,” a smiling Libaru told The Indian Tribal speaking about his new life.
Libaru is also happy to be a policeman. “As a policeman, I will get a monthly salary whereas there was no provision to get a monthly income when I was a Naxalite. In fact, we had to collect funds as a levy from road and tendu contractors, and businessmen for the Maoist organisation,” he said pointing out the differences.
For his part, Veko, who hails from Keshkutur village in Bhairamgarh area of Bijapur, joined the banned outfit in 2014 through Bhairamgarh Area Committee Secretary Chandrahana and others.
His wife Raje alias Vanoja also quit the Naxalite outfit with him in June 2020 in Kabirdham. Veko carried a bounty of Rs 2 lakh on his head. The couple, who got married in 2019, has a child.
They played a vital role in the surrender of another top woman cadre named Hidme Kowasi alias Ranita (22) before the security forces last month in Kabirdham district.
Ranita was active as the Area Committee Member (ACM) of Gondia-Rajnandgaon-Balaghat (GRB) under Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh (MMC) Zonal Committee as well as GRB Division’s Tanda/Malanjkhand Area Committee of the outlawed Maoist outfit.
She had a reward of Rs 5 lakh each in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra besides Rs 3 lakh in Madhya Pradesh. She was involved in 19 incidents of Maoist violence in Balaghat in MP and three acts of violence in Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district in Chhattisgarh.
The husband-wife duo of Veko and Raje resumed their studies “for a better life” under the district police drive to educate the school dropouts of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in Kabirdham.
“My wife Raje and me are happy as I will be able to fulfill all our dreams and desires of my three-year-old daughter,” Veko told The Indian Tribal. He has seven siblings including four sisters besides his mother and him. His father died in 2005.
“There was no provision in Maoism to get any financial aid if I killed in encounter but in the police job I will get a regular salary and there will be other incentives for my family. I decided to quit Naxalism in 2017 citing disappointment with the hollow Maoist ideology, exploitation of lower rung cadres by the senior Maoist leaders. So finally, I quit Naxalism,” a disillusioned Veko pointed out.
WHAT DO THEY DO AS POLICEMEN?
- The two have become an integral part of the police force carrying out anti-Naxal operations.
- Libaru and Veko jointly participate in the operation besides collecting information about the presence of Maoists in the district.
- The two played pivotal roles in the surrender of Maoist Suddhu Hemla alias Karan and his wife Anita in 2022. Karan had a bounty of Rs 8 lakh and Anita carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh.
- Libaru and Veko also perform spotter/watcher duty during the Assembly/Lok Sabha elections and various VIP visits from a security point of view.
- They also identify the slain Maoists killed in encounters with security forces in the border districts.
- They carry Insas rifles during search, combing and anti-Naxal operations during their duty.
