Three Maoists lay down arms, security forces recover ammo cache in Odisha

MALKANGIRI:  Three Maoist cadres including a woman surrendered before police in Malkangiri district on the occasion of Republic Day on Thursday. The surrendered Maoists were identified as Manoj alias Mati Madhi (22), Pandu Kabasi (27) and Aite Kartami (21), all natives of Daldali village within Mathili police limits in Malkangiri. Each of the three carried a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh on their heads. They were members of Mahupadar local organising squad (LOS) under Dandakaranya special zonal committee of the banned CPI (Maoist).

The trio laid down their arms in the district police office in presence of Director (Intelligence) Sanjeeb Panda, Additional Director General of Police (Operation) Amitabh Thakur, DIG SIW Anirudha Singh, DIG SWR Rajesh Pandit and Malkangiri SP Nitesh Wadhwani.

Addressing the media, the surrendered rebels said they got disillusioned with the Maoist ideology for multiple reasons and decided to join the mainstream. Improvement in the security scenario after establishment of several camps of the forces in the surrounding areas of Tulsi mountain bordering Chhattisgarh also prompted them to surrender, they added.

Police said the trio will be properly rehabilitated as per the policy of the government. In a separate development, the security forces seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, IEDs and other materials from a Maoist dump at Jajbhata between Kirmiti and Katuapadar village.  

Basing on specific intelligence inputs, Malkangiri police and SOG jawans conducted a search and area domination operation in the region and unearthed the dump which included one air pistol, three country-made guns, one SLR rifle, six barrel grenade launchers, 50 303 ball ammunition, two blank ammunition, three ammunition pouches, 14 tiffin IEDs, 14 electronic detonators, 10 gelatin sticks and nine batteries.

AOBSZC opposes MoU with ISB
Malkangiri: The Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of the CPI (Maoist) has opposed the MoU signed between the Mission Shakti department and Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) to create a thriving and sustainable forest economy in Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts. In a release, AOBSZC leader Ganesh said during the Odisha conclave on December 3 last year, the state government gave permission to ISB for procurement of forest produces in the six districts through SHGs. Instead of empowering the SHGs, the government has surrendered before corporate organisations. The ISB officials will be punished in the praja court, he warned.