While life is not easy for the surrendered naxals, officers who were killed in the name of their cause, have had it worst. It's been 13 years since a former police constable, Alka Randive, 40, attached with the Gadchiroli police headquarters, lost her husband, a C-60 commando, in a naxal operation, but she is still seeking closure. "I took care of a 16-year-old pregnant naxal woman, who had surrendered and was in my custody. In return, they [naxals] shot dead my husband on December 26, 2005," she says.

At the time, Alka was four months pregnant. Her husband Avinash Randive - he was killed at Tippagad Hills in the jurisdiction of Purada police station - is among the 194 martyrs (151 state police and remaining central force), who laid down their lives fighting naxalism since 1991.