CPI (Maoist) zonal commander Jeevan Kandulna, who carried a bounty of Rs.10 lakh on his head and faced charges in 77 cases of major crimes, surrendered to the Ranchi police on Sunday.

Kandulna, as per details shared by the police, was accused in cases of murder, loot, rape, levy collection and involvement in Maoist activities lodged with different police stations across Jharkhand.

Police said that more than 4000 operations were conducted to nab Kandulna in the past 20 years, but he always managed to escape. Kandulna, originally a resident of Rania block of Khunti district, about 35 kilometers south of Ranchi, was active in the Saranda jungles of West Singhbhum – the largest Sal forest of South East Asia. Police sources said that security forces were following his location and activities for over a year and mounting pressure on him to surrender.

After surrendering before the police in Ranchi, Kandulna urged his fellow rebels to shun their gun and join the mainstream.

“I was impressed with the new surrender policy. I appeal all my fellow rebels to take advantage of the surrender policy and start afresh,” Kandulna said.

Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police, SK Jha said that many rebels were still living in the far-flung jungles following an ideology that may not serve any purpose.

“Many youths join Maoist groups after getting influenced by their ideologies. But eventually, right wins over wrong,” said Jha. “All the provisions of the surrender policy for Left Wing Extremists will be followed in his (Kandulna’s) rehabilitation in the mainstream, and we are expecting that more rebels will surrender after this,” he added.

Sources said that Kandulna had joined the outlawed CPI (Maoist) to avenge the killing of his sister by a splinter outfit years ago. Security forces have been on the lookout for Kandulna during combing operations in West Singhbhum in the past couple of months, sources said.

As per records with the Ministry of Home Affairs, at least 19 of 24 districts in Jharkhand are Left Wing Extremism-affected. Besides the main CPI (Maoist), there are around 17 splinter outfits active in the tribal state.

The government has been working on framing better surrender policies in order to ensure more surrender by insurgents. In 2017, Jharkhand’s one of the most infamous Maoist leaders, Kundan Pahan, a zonal commander, had surrendered and was given a warm welcome by the police.