Maoist couple surrenders

Bhubaneswar: A Maoist couple, each carrying a reward of Rs 55.10 lakh on their heads, and 17 other red rebels surrendered before the Odisha Police on Friday, a top officer said. The couple is CPI (Maoist)’s State committee members Niranjan Rout (45) alias Nikhil, and his 42-year-old wife Rashmita Lenka, also known as Indu, Director General of Police Y B Khurania said. Earlier, Rout and his wife had written a letter to the Odisha government expressing their willingness to surrender. Both are State committee members, the second highest rung in the CPI (Maoist) hierarchy after the Central Committee (CC).

Addressing a press conference here, Khurania said that Rout, Lenka and 13 others surrendered before the Superintendent of Police of Rayagada, while four other party members renounced violence in Kandhamal district.

The DGP said that the surrendered Maoists also laid down some arms and ammunition before the police. “Among the arms laid down by the surrendered Maoists were two AK-47 rifles,” Khurania said. He said now there are only a few Maoists remaining in the State.