22 Maoists including divisional committee member surrender in Odisha

Twenty-two Maoists including a divisional committee member surrendered before Odisha Police at an event in Malkangiri in the presence of the director general of police YB Khurania on Tuesday.

Apart from the the divisional committee member, police said there were six area committee members and 15 party members. They also surrendered one AK-47 rifle, two INSAS rifles, one self-loading rifle, three .303 rifles and two single-shot rifles, along with 150 rounds of ammunition, magazines, explosives and improvised explosive devices.

Of the 22 surrendered cadres, 19 belong to the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), while two were associated with the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) and one with the Gadchiroli Area Committee.

The DKSZC cadres belonged to Kerlapal Area Committee, Jagurgonda Area Committee, Platoon-26 and Platoon-31. The senior-most among them was Linge alias Muye Madkam (45), a divisional committee member and commander of Platoon-31, from Andam village in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district.

Other prominent surrenderees included Baman Madkam (27), ACM and Commander of Dornapal LOS under Kerlapal AC, and Sukka Muchaki (22), ACM and Commander of Badasetti LOS. Most of the cadres hail from villages in Sukma, Dantewada and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh.

From the AOBSZC, Sagar alias Sanna Punem (25), a party member of the Central Committee Protection Team, and Somey Midiam (19) surrendered. The lone cadre from Gadchiroli Area Committee was identified as Anila alias Budri Kowachi (25), a party member of Company-10.

The state government’s new surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy has raised the ceiling on financial assistance to category A surrendered Maoists to ₹5 lakh. and ₹2.5 lakh for category B Maoists.

A Maoist who surrenders with a light machine gun is entitled to get ₹4.95 lakh assistance and ₹ 3.3 lakh for an AK-47 rifle. For a self-loading rifle (SLR)/Insas rifle it is ₹1.65 lakh while for 303 rifle it has been revised to ₹82,500.

Surrendered Maoists carrying a reward of ₹5 lakh or more would also be given an additional amount of ₹10 lakh which would be deposited as a fixed deposit in any bank by the district SP.