Two tribal militias belonging to the CPI (Maoist) surrendered before Rayagada SP Siva Subramani on Tuesday.
Both surrendered ultras lokanath alias Rahul Gagaranga (25) and Sunil Gagaranga
(26) belong to Tangadappa village in Piskapanga GP of Chandrapur block. They worked for the then Basadhara Division led by Sabyasachi Panda, Azad and Uday.
Both used to provide support the movement of CPI Maoists in the Chadrapur area. They were providing food and shelter to Maoists whenever they used to visit their area. They also organised Maoists’ meetings in the area.
Their roles were suspected in various offences registered at the Chandrapur PS.
Some books written by Sabyasachi Panda, a magazine named Nissan and fourteen letters were recovered from them.
lokanath was also involved in blasting the Danagasorada outpost under the Muniguda PS in December 2008. An ambush had taken place in which a CRPF Havildar died and a police constable of Chandrapur was severely injured.
As the Basadhara division is becoming increasingly weak, the surrender of the two militias would pave the way for more such surrenders. An interface with the tribal youths is the need of the hour for a mainstreaming the process, said local tribal leaders Dharuni Saraka and Satya Pratika Chandrapur block. Both the ex-militias would be rehabilitated as per Government norms, SP Subramani said.