10 Maoist cadres, including leader with ₹55 lakh bounty, surrender in Odisha

Ten Maoist cadres, including a ₹55 lakh bounty leader from Chhattisgarh, surrender before Kandhamal Police in Odisha with firearms and ammunition

Published on: Mar 11, 2026, 18:07:09 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

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Ten Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres, including a state committee member with a ₹55 lakh bounty, surrendered before the Kandhamal police on Wednesday.

Ten Maoist cadres, including a state committee member, lay down arms before Odisha Police in Kandhamal.

The surrender took place at a formal ceremony organised by the Odisha Police at the Reserve Police Ground in Phulbani, where the cadres also laid down arms and ammunition before senior officers of the police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Those who surrendered include Sanu Pottam alias Nitu, a State Committee Member of the KKBN Division, and Santaei Salam alias Anupa, a Divisional Committee Member of the same division. Two Area Committee Members, Laxmi Madvi alias Sangita and Sunil Telam, were also among those who surrendered, along with six party members identified as Manjula Punem alias Silpa, Rambati Oyam alias Jamuna, Ganesh Kunjam, Susila Dudi, Sarita Kuhudam and Chodi Yogi alias Rajni.

Additional director general of police (anti-naxal operations) Sanjeeb Panda said all 10 cadres are from Chhattisgarh and surrendered with 10 firearms along with other ammunition. “The Maoist cadres carried a combined reward of ₹1.15 crore,” Panda said on the sidelines of the ceremony.

Panda said that Nabarangapur, Balangir, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nuapada and Boudh districts had already been declared naxal-free. “We now have the target to make the border areas of Kandhamal, Kalahandi and Rayagada districts naxal-free. As many as 25 Maoists are believed to be operating in these areas. We would appeal to them to shun violence and join the mainstream of society,” he said.

The surrender comes days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking at the CISF’s 57th Raising Day ceremony in Cuttack, reiterated the Centre’s deadline of March 31 to rid India of Maoist violence.

Shah said the Modi government had made a “pledge” to defeat the insurgency and that the dream of a Red Corridor stretching from Tirupati to Pashupati would be “completely defeated.” He credited the CISF and other security forces for their contributions in states including Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

Under the state government’s rehabilitation and reintegration policy, each of the ten surrendered cadres was immediately provided an interim relief of ₹25,000. They will additionally receive housing under the Antyodaya Gruha Yojana, a one-time marriage incentive of ₹25,000 and free enrolment in short-term skill development programmes. A monthly stipend of ₹10,000 will be paid during the training period, for up to three years, to help ease their transition into civilian life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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