Maoist couple with bounty of Rs nine lakh on head surrenders

Bhubaneswar: Five dreaded Maoists, including a couple involved in almost 150 cases and having a bounty of Rs nine lakh on their head, on Thursday surrendered before the police in Malkangiri district of Odisha.

“The five extremists said they decided to surrender as they wanted to return to the social mainstream after realising that they were terrifying tribal people and peasants,” said Deputy Inspector General (DIG) S Saini.

The five Maoists who surrendered before the police included Raju Sodhi, Deba Beti, Laxman Madkami, Sukhdev and his wife Rukmini.

Other highlights:

• Nearly 150 cases including murder, abduction, landmine blasts and assault on police were pending against the Maoist couple in different police stations.
• The other three were involved in a number of criminal cases like landmine blasts and attack on police in areas of Chhattisgarh.