Nagpur: A resulted Woman MaoistRajni Veladi aka Kalawatiwho was involved in one of the bloodiest ambushes on security forces in Sukma in 2017, now wears a mehndi on her hands where an AK-47 once hung.
Kalawati took off her olive green guerrilla uniform and wrapped herself in a red sari to marry the love of her life on Friday. Gadchiroli Cops are playing cupid – the same squad that once put a bounty of Rs 1.1 million on her head and put her on the most wanted list in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
Kalawati was a member of the Tanda Dalam area committee and controlled the security ring around the impregnable Maoist headquarters in Abujmarh before surrendering last year. She had joined the rebel movement in Chhattisgarh in 2009.
The turning point in their lives was the encounter with Burkapal in Sukma, where 25 commandos were killed in a deadly ambush by 300 guerrillas.
Kalawati, who hails from Bhupalapatnam in Chhattisgarh, was on the run for six years, fearing reprisals from the security forces of both states. She later decided to surrender to the Gadchiroli police, who had opened their doors to guerrillas seeking to return to society. Then her love blossomed with a local farmer, Kailash Madavi.
According to sources, the Madavi family of Yellaram village in Aheri district of Gadchiroli had a distant connection with the Veladis of Bhupalapatnam in Chhattisgarh. After Kalawati laid down her arms, the relationship deepened with Kailash, who was particularly taken with her good looks.
For security reasons, she lived in the surrendered Maoaist colony at the police headquarters under the supervision of the Gadchiroli police.
Gadchiroli SP Neelotpal said that the two families had approached the police to arrange for the former Maoist to marry a villager from Yellaram.
“It was a laudable suggestion which gave us a golden opportunity to rehabilitate someone from the middle of the society. After the couple gave us their consent, we immediately went on a ‘shaadi ki tyaari’ mission,” the SP said, adding that the police had taken entire responsibility for the bride.
Neelotpal along with other SPs Yatish Deshmukh, M Ramesh, Dy SP (Operation) Vishal Nagargoje and others attended the wedding ceremony at Semana Temple near Gadchiroli.
Sub-Inspector Narendra Piwal, in-charge of the handover cell, said the policemen welcomed the ‘baraatis’ (relatives and friends of the groom). “The wedding was celebrated as per tribal tradition with rituals, feasts and other festive formalities. The couple were gifted utensils, kitchenware and other materials required to build a home,” Piwal said, adding that the couple will stay in the police colony and later build their own house on a government-allotted plot as per the state’s handover policy.
