At Kalahandi’s police campus, a rare wedding of two former Maoists

Kalamdei Majhi, 25, had always been a reluctant Maoist. But Kesab Veladi, who joined Maoists when he was in his teens, had been a hardcore Maoist and had been in the personal security team of a Maoist central committee member

Published on: Apr 23, 2022, 01:13:19 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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BHUBANESWAR: Two former Maoists who surrendered three years apart but got to know each other at Kalahandi district’s police reserve campus where they lived, got married on Friday. The police campus in Odisha was the unlikely setting for the wedding of two ex-Maoists.

The two former Maoists married at the Kalahandi police reserve campus.

Gita alias Kalamdei Majhi, 25, had always been a reluctant Maoist. When she was 19, Kalamdei, the eldest daughter in a family of seven, was abducted from her village in Jugsaipatna to join the rebels. But unable to find her feet in the Maoist organisaiton, she surrendered before the police in January 2016.

“She however did not return home and lived in the police reserve campus and trained in tailoring,” said Kalahandi superintendent of police (SP) Dr Vivek Saravana.

Kesab Veladi alias Deepak alias Ramdas, 29, however, had been a hardcore Maoist, and spent 11 years in the organisation rising to the rank of area committee member. He worked as protection party member to CPI (Maoist) Central Committee J Narasimha Reddy alias Jampanna, who surrendered in Andhra Pradesh in 2017.

Disillusioned with Maoist ideology, Kesab Veladi, who hails from Palsegundapur village in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, surrendered to the Kalahandi police in February 2020. He also started staying in the police campus, but not out of choice. There were concerns that he could be attacked by his former colleagues if he lived on his own.

Kesab said she got to know Kalamdei better during his stay in police reserve campus of Bhawanipatna. “Though I got along with her well, I never expected that I would get married to her,” said Keshab.

Police officials said, Kalamdei’s parents approached them around six months ago. “As she stayed around a year with Maoists, her parents found it difficult to get a partner for her,” the police officer said. Eventually, the couple’s parents met each other on the police campus and blessed the wedding

Dressed in a red saree for the occasion, Kalamdei said she is immensely thankful to the police for the wedding. “I decided to marry Ramdas recently and I thank the police for helping us get together for the rest of our lives,” she said.

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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