Top Maoist couple among 19 rebels surrender before Odisha cops

BHUBANESWAR/BERHAMPUR: Top Maoist couple Niranjan Rout and his wife Rashmita Lenka were among 19 rebels who surrendered before Odisha Police on Friday. Niranjan alias Nikhil and Rashmita alias Indu were state committee members — the second-highest tier in the CPI (Maoist) hierarchy after the central committee — with each carrying a bounty of Rs 55.10 lakh.

The couple’s surrender is being hailed as a turning point in the fight against Maoists, with state police officers calling it the last nail in the coffin in Odisha, keeping in mind the Centre’s target of a Naxal-free India by March 31. While four Maoists, including three women, laid down arms before Kandhamal police on Friday, a formal ceremony for the remaining 15— including Nikhil and Indu — will be held in Rayagada on Saturday.

“We are committed to meeting the Centre’s March 31 deadline for a Naxal-free India. Only a handful of Maoists remain in Odisha. Besides appealing to the Maoists, we are engaging their families and relatives to persuade them to renounce violence,” DGP Y B Khurania said. According to ADG (antiNaxal operations) Sanjeeb Panda, the four Maoists who surrendered in Kandhamal belonged to Chhattisgarh and held the rank of party members in the KandhamalKalahandi-Boudh-Nayagarh division. “With their surrender, Boudh is now Naxal-free,” Panda said.