Two Maoists active since 2018 lay down arms before Odisha Police

In a significant development, two prominent Maoist operatives, Unaga Kalamu alias Kishore and Mase Madvi, have surrendered before the Southern Range Inspector General (IG) of Odisha Police Niti Shekhar in Kandhamal district, official sources informed in a presser held on Sunday.

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Both individuals hail from the Sukma district of neighbouring Chhattisgarh and have been active members of the CPI-Maoist organisation since 2018, and were working as party members in the Bansadhara-Ghumusar-Nagavali (BGN) division.

Currently, while being active in the Daringbadi area, they have surrendered to the IGP.

They were involved in several violent Maoist incidents, and now, seeing the police’s anti-Naxal operations, they became fearful and have surrendered. They also urged other Maoists to surrender to the police.

The surrender is being viewed as a major success for the State’s counter-insurgency efforts in the region. Authorities have noted that their cooperation could help in intelligence gathering and further weakening Maoist networks in Odisha and neighbouring areas.

According to the information from the surrendered Maoists, the DVF team successfully recovered a large quantity of Maoist materials from a dump in Pangurmela forest under Baliguda police limits.

This marks a continuation of efforts by security forces to encourage rebels to lay down arms, contributing to ongoing peace and development initiatives in Maoist-affected zones.

“Two Maoists have surrendered before us today. They were party members of the BGN division. The operatives, Unaga Kalamu alias Kishore and Mase Madvi, hail from Chhattisgarh. The duo was from Sukma district but was active here (in Phulbani),” the Southern Range IGP said.

“Necessary financial assistance will be provided to them by the district police as per provisions of the State government,” the senior cop expressed while briefing to mediapersons.