A Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre carrying an INR 600,000 bounty surrendered to the Police before Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Jagdish Meena in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra on May 28, reports mid-day.com. The Naxalite, identified as Ganesh Gatta Punem (35), is a resident of the neighbouring Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh. The Police, in their statement, said that Punem was hired as a member of the supply team at Bhamragadh Local Organising Squad (LOS) in 2017 and promoted to ‘deputy commander’ in 2018. According to the report, he was involved in encounters in Mirtur and Timmenar, Bijapur, in 2017 and 2022. A police statement said that Punem surrendered for a variety of reasons, including a shortage of medical facilities and the misuse of development funding by senior cadres.