22 Maoists from Chhattisgarh surrender in Odisha’s Malkangiri

Bhubaneswar/Malkangiri: Altogether 22 Maoists from Chhattisgarh, carrying a combined bounty of Rs 2.18 crore, surrendered before Odisha DGP Y B Khurania in Malkangiri district on Tuesday. This marked the first mass surrender in Odisha this year, coming just three months ahead of the Centre’s deadline to eradicate LWE nationwide.
Among those who laid down arms were 10 women, including a divisional committee member (DCM) and six area committee members (ACMs). Nineteen 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. They were involved in a series of violence in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.


The mass surrender follows the Odisha govt’s recent revision of its Maoist surrender and rehabilitation policy, which increased reward amounts by 10% over neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
The cadres handed over nine firearms, including an AK-47, two INSAS rifles, one SLR, three .303 rifles, and two single-shot rifles, along with 150 rounds of ammunition and 20 kg of explosives.
Khurania, along with senior officials, including ADG (anti-Naxal operations) Sanjeeb Panda, DIG (special intelligence wing) Akhileshvar Singh, DIG (south-western range) K V Singh, Malkangiri SP Vinodh Patil H, and collector Somesh Upadhyay, attended the surrender ceremony.
“The Maoists formally renounced violence, severed ties with extremist activities, and pledged faith in democracy. It is a major setback to CPI (Maoist), weakening its leadership, morale, and operational strength,” Khurania said.
Police officials attributed the mass surrender to multiple factors, including CM Mohan Charan Majhi’s consistent appeals, enhanced surrender and rehabilitation policy, sustained anti-Maoist operations, disillusionment with extremist ideology, and leadership vacuum within Maoist ranks.
Odisha’s anti-Maoist campaign gained momentum this year with successive blows to the CPI (Maoist). On Sept 11, central committee member and Odisha secretary (in-charge) Modem Balakrishna was killed in Chhattisgarh, while a joint Odisha–Chhattisgarh–CRPF operation in Chhattisgarh eliminated top commander Chalapathi and 13 cadres on Jan 21. On May 21, Basavaraju, CPI (Maoist) general secretary and key architect of its Odisha expansion, was killed along with 27 others in Chhattisgarh.
“These successive encounters have severely crippled Maoist influence in Odisha because more than 90% of the Naxals operating in our state are from Chhattisgarh. Only around 80 Maoists, including around 10 from Odisha, are now active in our state,” a security official said.


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