Rourkela:
Three alleged Maoists - two of them wanted fighters and the third a boy - have surrendered before the police, security officials in Rourkela said today. Two of the alleged Maoists have been identified as Sidharth Lohar alias Bhima and Krishna, 28, and Phula Munda alias Gurubari, 19, police said. Police declined to reveal the minor's identity citing legal rules.
Mr Lohar carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, and Ms Munda carried Rs 1 lakh, police said. "Both Lohar and Munda were involved in over 25 exchanges of fire between 2015 and 2016 near Kelo, Jamdar, Koilijhar and other areas inside Odisha and also in Jharkhand," Rourkela Superintendent of Police or SP Anirudh Singh said.
Both were involved in a gunfight with police in Mahulpada on May 20, when security forces destroyed a rebel camp. Police said Mr Lohar and Ms Munda became Maoists in 2005 and 2015, respectively, and all the three, including the minor, were Jharkhand residents.
"Lohar was active in Sarnada, Kolhan, Podahat, Bundu, Tamar region of Jharkhand and also in Sundergarh district of Odisha. Lohar was also active in Deogarh, Angul and Boudh districts," SP Anirudh Singh said. Mr Lohar was part of the Sundergarh-Deogarh-Sambalpur division in the rank of district core member, the police officer added.
"Lohar was working with the top Maoist Anmol alias Samrjee and Kunu Dehuri alias Ajay. Lohar was carrying a cash award of Rs 5 lakh on his head and undergoing psychological pressure in the outfit after his wife, a fellow Maoist, surrendered in 2014, SP Anirudh Singh added.
"Both of them were fed up with the way the party was functioning and did not want to continue as they got disillusioned," Mr Singh said.
Ms Munda was a member of the Maoists' cultural team, police said. "Senior members physically tortured her and she never received any salary from the party and was involved in exchange of fire with the security forces," Mr Singh said. The Maoists who surrendered today will get financial aid after a review by the screening team, he added.
The security forces yesterday found 30 gelatine sticks, 22 detonators and a five-metre wire in Mahulpada forest. "This is a substantial seizure," Mr Singh said.