Ex-Maoist woman wants to start coffee shop at police HQ in Ranchi

An ex-leader of the women’s wing of the CPI (Maoist) who surrendered in 2011, 25-year-old Reshmi Mahli now wants to run a coffee shop at the district police headquarters in Ranchi. Mahli had surrendered after alleging sexual exploitation by rebels. [caption id=“attachment_824419” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational picture. AFP[/caption] She received Rs 1.5 lakh under the Naxalite surrender policy and wants to invest it in the business, as per a Times of India report. She now plans to meet Ranchi SSP Saket Kumar Singh with the proposal to run the shop. The coffee shop at the headquarters had been closed recently and the officers were looking for someone to re-start it. Mahli is said to have joined the rebels at an early age with no education. She still has cases pending against her and served a six-month trial after her surrender. “This life is far better than the life in jungles. I appeal to all the Naxalites to surrender and join the mainstream,” she was quoted as saying. The ex-Maoist also has a son studying in class II. Mahli says she wants her son to become a police officer. She allegedly suffered sexual exploitation soon after her fiance and her son’s father Ashok Mahto was killed.