To step up the pressure on the banned Naxalite outfit the Communist Party of India-Maoist, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced cash reward worth lakhs of rupees for information on 474 Maoist cadres. The wanted activists include underground extremists, senior members of the central committee and squad members.
 
The list, issued by the government recently, includes 87 new names.
 
The government has announced a reward of Rs 12 lakh for party general secretary Muppal Lakshman alias Ganpathy and 12 other members of the central committee. Members of the provincial committee and special zone committee carry a reward of Rs 10 lakh each.
 
A reward of Rs 8 lakh has been declared for alternate committee members and Rs 6 lakh for the regional committee members. The district and division committee members will carry a reward of Rs 5 lakh, and information about area committee, action committee members and commanders will fetch a reward of Rs two lakh.
 
The reward will be paid to the informants if the information provided by them helps in nabbing the wanted extremist. But in case the extremists themselves surrender, the cash reward will be given to them, in accordance with the policy of rehabilitation for surrendered Naxalites, the order said.

The new list has been approved and released by the government following a letter by the state's director general of police, seeking revision of the list and a hike in the rewards for certain Naxalites, in tune with their current rank in the organisation.
 
Of the 1,133 extremists in last year's list, 71 were arrested, 83 killed in encounters and 284 surrendered.

While 68 others were inactive, 44 names were repeated in the absence of particulars about their full identity.
 
The reward scheme and offer to give the money to the surrendered Naxalite has proved highly successful in the anti-Maoist drive. While it helped the police and intelligence agencies in receiving information from the informants, it also encouraged a lot of Naxalites to surrender, a police officer said.
 
The new list has been announced at a time when the CPI-Maoist has been almost wiped out in most parts of Andhra Pradesh. Its presence is now restricted to the forest areas bordering Chattisgarh and Orissa.