More than 650 Maoist supporters including 350 militia members, village committee members (VCMs) and Chetana Natya Mandali Members (CNM), hailing from Malkangiri district of Odisha and Alluri Sitharam Raju district of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh surrendered before the Odisha police on Saturday.

The Maoist supporters belong to the remote villages located on the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border that were the erstwhile stronghold of Maoists. With this, the number of Maoist supporters who have surrendered before the police has gone up to nearly 2,000. All these surrenders have taken place within a span of five months.

“They used to assist in violent activities of the Maoists and were involved in the killing of security forces and civilians. They were also supplying logistical support to the ultras,” said a statement issued by the Malkangiri district police.

These Maoist supporters surrendered before Malkangiri Police at Jantapayi (Papermetla) in the presence of Rajesh Pandit, deputy inspector general of police (DIG), South Western Range; Nitesh Wadhwani, superintendent of police, Malkangiri; Sailaendra Kumar Sinha, DIG, BSF, Malkangiri and Sunil Kumar Minj, commandant, 9th Bn, BSF Chitrakonda.

The surrendered militia members exhibited their opposition towards the Maoist ideology by burning the dress materials and effigies of Maoists raising slogans of “Maobadi Murdabad, Ama Sarkar Jindabad”. “This is an important development. They surrendered before the police as a part of their Ghar Wapsi Karyakrama,” said an official.

Earlier on June 2 this year, 50 active hardcore Maoist supporters had surrendered before the DGP, Odisha, on June 11, and as many as 347 Maoist supporters had surrendered before Malkangiri Police and BSF at Jantri BSF Camp on August 22. 550 supporters had surrendered before Malkangiri Police and BSF at Janbai BSF Camp and on September 17, 700 Maoist supporters had surrendered before Malkangiri Police and BSF at Andrahal (Mudulipada) and joined the mainstream.

The construction of Gurupriya bridge in Malkangiri district in 2018 has led to a series of developments and the special developmental packages of the state government coupled with the strategic deployment of security forces inspired the villagers to join the mainstream, officials said.