India, July 30 -- Eight Naxalites, collectively carrying a reward of Rs 49 lakh and active in Jharkhand, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday, police said.

This is the first major group surrender of Maoists in Chhattisgarh after the Government declared the State free of Left Wing Extremism on March 31.

The surrendered cadres, including five women, turned themselves in before senior officials of the Bijapur police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Bijapur Superintendent of Police Umesh Prasad Gupta said.

The cadres were influenced by the Chhattisgarh Government's Naxalite Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy and rehabilitation initiatives being implemented in Bijapur, Gupta said.

They also cited the gro...