Maoist commander who helped plan 2017 Sukma attack on CRPF jawans surrenders before Chhattisgarh Police

Sudhir Korsa aka Prakash, a Maoist platoon commander, who was a part of the dreaded Battalion-1 of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region surrendered before the Chhattisgarh Police on Wednesday.

According to Chhattisgarh Police, Korsa, 31, was involved in the Burkapal incident in Sukma in 2017, in which 24 CRPF jawans were killed.

A commander of Platoon-2 of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army's (PLGA) Battalion-1, Korsa surrendered before the Bijapur district police of Chhattisgarh. He carried a prize of Rs 8 lakh on his head.

Chhattisgarh Police hands over a cheque to surrendered Maoist Sudhir Korsa on Wednesday as per rehabilitation policy. Debobrat Ghose

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Terming Korsa's surrender as a success of the Chhattisgarh government’s anti-Maoist operation and rehabilitation policy, the police claimed that Korsa surrendered after getting disillusioned with the ultra-Left ideology.

“Now a large number of Naxals (and Maoists) are surrendering as they have gotten frustrated with the false Maoist ideology of bringing a revolution through violence. Instead, they are opting for the government’s rehabilitation policy in order to get back to the mainstream. Besides cash of Rs 10,000, Korsa will also get other benefits mentioned in the rehabilitation policy,” n official belonging to Anti-Naxal Operations cell of Chhattisgarh Police told Firstpost.

The police also considers Korsa's surrender important as Battalion-1 of the PLGA, the military wing of the CPI (Maoist) in the Dandakaranya region in Bastar, is headed by Madvi Hidma, who is also the chief of Central Military Commission of CPI (Maoist).

PLGA is controlled by the Central Military Commission of the banned outfit.

Who’s Sudhir Korsa?

Korsa, a resident of Mankeli village in the Maoist-hit Bijapur district, joined the Darbha Valley (Darbha Ghati) Committee of the CPI (Maoist) in 2005.

The status of a Maoist in the organisation is determined by the weapon he/she carries, besides the post. In the case of Korsa, the police said that he possessed an AK 47 — which is usually given to commanders and senior members of the armed cadre.

According to Chhattisgarh Police, there are several cases registered against Korsa for his alleged involvement in nine Maoist incidents in Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Among the nine incidents in which Korsa is allegedly involved Rani Bodli incident (2007), Maoist attack at Nayagarh and on police line in Odisha (2008), looting of explosives at Koraput in Odisha (2009), Tadmetla incident in Sukma (2010) and Burkapal attack in Sukma (2017) are the major ones, in which security force personnel and innocent tribals lost their lives.

Besides leading Platoon-2, Korsa had also been heading the Mobile Political School (MOPOS) of the CPI (Maoist) since 2013.

“The last big incident in which Korsa was involved was the Burkapal attack in 2017 (also known as the Sukma attack). He was a part of the reconnaissance and planning team,” the official said.

In the Burkapal incident in Sukma district, which took place in April 2017, 25 jawans of the 74 Battalion of the CRPF lost their lives. The Rani Bodli incident (2007) in Bastar is one of the worst Maoist attacks in which 55 police personnel were killed.