In a jolt to the outlawed CPI(Maoist) and at a time when they are fast losing their support base among the tribals, as many as 50 of their supporters surrendered before police in the presence of DGP Sunil Bansal in Malkangri district on Thursday.
The Maoist sympathisers, including two women, surrendered before the DGP during his visit to the Jantri police camp in Swabhiman Anchal in the Maoist-infected district.
“Maoist supporters and some people who have been involved in a few police attack cases have surrendered today. Welcoming all to the mainstream of society, I told them nothing can be achieved from violence. They also took a pledge not to support or perpetrate violence,” the DGP said.
He appealed to the people who have accepted the Maoist ideology to surrender and join the mainstream. All should come and join the development process, he added.
The Maoist sympathisers have submitted a joint written letter to the DGP before surrendering. In the letter, they requested the DGP to close all cases pending against them in different police stations of Malkangiri district.
Later, Bansal reviewed the anti-Maoist operations in the districts with the BSF and inaugurated a new building of the Mathili police station.