Rourkela: A woman ultra named Muli Nayak alias Arati (22) of Bhan village under Kiriburu police limits in West Singhbhum district of neighbouring Jharkhand surrendered before the Rourkela police Wednesday.
The state government had promised her Rs 1 lakh for the surrender, SP Anirudh Kumar Singh told media persons.
Arati had joined the Maoist fold at the age of 13 and gone ahead to become an active member of the Sambalpur-Deogarh-Sundargarh division.
She had the expertise to operate AK-47 assault rifle and was involved in encounters with police in Asurkhol hill, Kelo, Jamdar, Bitilsoya under Rourkela police district.
However, she decided to quit the Maoist organisation when the cadres deviated from their ideology and indulged in unnecessary violence, said the surrendered ultra.
According to her accounts, Arati along with other women cadres was being harassed sexually in Maoist camps. Top male cadres often forced their women counterparts into physical relationship at gunpoint, she said, adding there were instances when women cadres were brutally beaten up.
Besides, there were instances when male Maoists fled the camps during gun battles with security forces leaving behind the women to take the bullets, Arati said, adding such incidents compelled her to quit the organisation.
Arati managed to escape when the male cadres took her to her village for a visit in 2016. Though the Maoists searched for her, she managed to give them a slip and finally surrendered before the police Wednesday, it was learnt.
SP Singh said Arati was abducted in 2010 and engaged in carrying arms of the guerillas. Later, she was given training for two months to operate guns. Arati was involved in Maoist activities in Angul and Boudh districts also, Singh added.
CRPF commandant Sunil Bhabar was also present at the press meet. PNN