In a major blow to the outlawed CPI (Maoist) organisation, 22 cadres, including 10 women, surrendered before the Odisha Police in Malkangiri on Tuesday, December 23, an officer said.
The group, carrying a staggering combined bounty of Rs 2.18 crore, cited disillusionment with extremist ideology and the state’s lucrative new rehabilitation policy as primary reasons for their return to the mainstream.
The surrender took place in the presence of Odisha DGP Y. B. Khurania. The cadres, who primarily hailed from Chhattisgarh but operated within Odisha, handed over a significant cache of weaponry, including over nine firearms and 150 cartridges, 20 kg of explosives, 13 IEDs, gelatin sticks, and other articles.
The officer said that among them were 10 women, including a divisional committee member (DCM) and six area committee members (ACMs).
Of them, 19 cadres belonged to the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), while two were from the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) and one from the Gadchiroli Area Committee. All of them were booked for Naxal activities in both Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
The surrendered Maoists also include DCM Linge, also known as Myre Madkam (45) of Sukma district, and ACMs Baman Madkam (27) and Sukka Muchaki and Rita Podiam.
The mass surrender follows the Odisha government’s November 27 revision of its surrender and rehabilitation policy, which offers financial incentives roughly 10 per cent higher than those in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
According to provisions, the 22 cadres will receive Rs 1.84 crore in assistance, along with Rs 25,000 immediate relief per person, housing under Antyodaya Yojana, marriage assistance, health insurance, ration cards, and other benefits, an official statement said.
Welcoming their decision, Khurania assured them that they would get all the benefits under the state government’s policy. He called upon others to come forward and avail of the benefits and return to the mainstream.
“It is a major setback to the CPI(Maoist) outfit, weakening its leadership, morale, and operational strength,” Khurania said, attributing the mass surrender to multiple factors, including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s appeals, enhanced surrender and rehabilitation policy, sustained anti-Maoist operations, disillusionment with extremist ideology, and leadership vacuum within Maoist ranks.
