Nine states share intel on controlling Maoist-related problems

[Hindustani78]

Former Bastar IG Shiv Ram Prasad Kalluri and Baster SP R.N. Dash (left from centre) at a rally organised by the AGNI last year.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...nti-Maoist-groups-disband/article17285037.ece


NAGPUR: Two anti-Maoist vigilante groups in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar region, formed with the backing of former Bastar range Inspector General of Police Shiv Ram Prasad Kalluri, were disbanded two days after the official was transferred to Raipur police headquarters.

The AGNI (Action Group for National Integrity) and the Bastar Sangharsh Samiti were at the forefront of the crackdown on journalists, human rights and tribal activists and lawyers in Bastar in the last one and half year.

The AGNI was disbanded after the attack on the house of a journalist in Jagdalpur district headquarters of Bastar. The group was formed after the Samajik Ekta Manch, made by former anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum leaders.

Most members of the two groups were former Salwa Judum men. They would work with Mr. Kalluri and other senior police officers close to him.

Mr. Kalluri and Bastar Superintendent of Police R.N. Dash often shared the stage with the AGNI and the Bastar Sangharsh Samiti leaders and also helped them in organising anti-Maoist rallies.

Many of the group members were provided government accommodation and would travel with Mr. Kalluri and Mr. Dash in choppers.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the national convener of the AGNI, Anand Mohan Mishra, said, “The AGNI has been dissolved with consensus. We were representing the people of Bastar in their fight against the Maoists. Since its formation, the AGNI was working peacefully and in a democratic way along with the government and the police. In the current situation, we are announcing an immediate dissolution.”

In a similar statement, P.Vijay Naidu of the Bastar Sangharsh Samiti announced the ‘dissolution’ of the group.

The two groups were excessively dependent on Mr. Kalluri for protection and support. They would term every journalist and activist, who raised voice against police brutality, as “anti-National and Maoist sympathiser.” The recent attack on the house of researcher Bela Bhatia in Bastar was suspected to be the work of AGNI members.


Earlier this week, Mr. Kalluri, whose tenure as the Bastar IG witnessed a large number of “questionable Maoist encounters and surrenders,” was transferred to Raipur police headquarters.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/sog-personnel-exchange-fire-with-maoists-in-koraput-district/
By: PTI | Koraput | Updated: February 10, 2017 10:24 pm
Security personnel belonging to Odisha’s elite Special Operation Group (SOG) and the Maoists exchanged fire at Kutudi forest in Koraput district on Friday , police said. “By evening today, there is no report of any casualty or injury from either side. As the place of occurrence is deep inside the forest details are awaited. Once our men returns from the spot more details will be known,” said Superintendent of Police, Koraput, Charan Singh Meena.

According to police, based on intelligence inputs about the movement of a group of Naxals in the area, an operation was launched on Thursday. Around 5 am this morning, the Maoists spotted the SOG jawans and fired to which the security men retaliated.

On February 1, eight policemen were killed and five injured in a landmine blast triggered by the Maoists near Sunki on NH-26 in Koraput district.

Meanwhile in another incident, suspected Maoists today torched a contractor’s camp in Odisha’s Rayagada district damaging several road building equipment.

A report said that the Maoists set afire to five vehicles comprising two earth moving machines, two tractors and a water tanker belonging to a contractor engaged in road construction near Sandengleli in Parsali gram panchayat under Kalyansinghpur block of Rayagada district.

The police have seized Maoist posters from the site, reports added. The contractor was engaged in construction of road from Parsali to Gumma.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...ured-in-exchange-of-fire-with-naxals-4520745/

The security men were on the operation since morning in the interior parts of Bhejji, located 450 kms from Raipur.
By: PTI | Raipur | Published:February 12, 2017 3:44 pm
A police personnel was on Sunday injured in an exchange of fire with Naxals in a dense forest of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, police said. The skirmish took place in the forest under Bhejji police station limits when a joint team of Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Group (DRG) was out on a counter-insurgency operation, a police official told reporters.

The security men were on the operation since morning in the interior parts of Bhejji, located 450 kms from Raipur. While cordoning off a forested part, they came under heavy firing from a group of ultras that led to a gun-battle between the two sides, he said. The ultras, however, soon escaped from the spot. “A jawan belonging to DRG sustained minor bullet injury injury in the incident,” he said.

Reinforcement was rushed to the spot and the injured jawan was being evacuated from the forest, he added.

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http://indianexpress.com/article/in...al-edge-in-using-ieds-to-kill-report-4520491/
Naxalite groups continue to be “lethal and resolute” in terms of using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other technology devices to perpetrate bloodshed and have caused maximum deaths of security personnel and civilians last year. According to a report prepared by the National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC) of the federal counter-terror force NSG, there was a 26 per cent increase in IED blast incidents in 2016 as compared to 2015 and human causalities have increased by 3 per cent in the same period.

As many as 112 deaths due to explosive blasts were reported in the country last year, with the maximum of 73 coming from the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) theatre, 14 from the insurgency-hit areas of the Northeast, five from Jammu and Kashmir and 20 from the rest of the country. “LWE-hit states accounted for 65 per cent of total fatalities (73 personnel), while other states accounted for 35 per cent. The higher fatalities ratio in the LWE-hit states indicate that the Maoists are lethal, resolute, aggressive and well-adapted to the jungle terrain,” according to the report, published last week.

The “high rate of causalities have been caused by explosion of high-intensity improvised explosive devices (IEDs)”. A total of 337 blasts of various kinds, including IEDs and other bombs, were reported last year that injured 479 people across the country, the report said, adding the corresponding figure for 2015 was 268 and 457, respectively.

The report also reveals that in 2016, 83 per cent of all IED blasts were triggered by the Naxals and other ultras using “high explosives”, which is a cause for concern. “More than 80 per cent of blast incidents, which took place in LWE-hit areas and Northeastern states, involved high explosives,” it said.

The NBDC of the National Security Guard (NSG), which is the nodal post-blasts investigation organisation of the country, assessed that “high explosives are the most preferred form of explosives used by the Maoists/insurgents/extremists to inflict heavy causalities on the targeted people/security forces or properties”.

 

[Hindustani78]

By: PTI | Raipur | Published:February 13, 2017 3:15 pm

No harm was reported to security forces in the encounter. (Image for representational purposes. Express)
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/naxalite-gunned-down-in-face-off-with-police-in-chhattisgarh/


A Naxal was gunned down in an exchange of fire between the ultras and security forces at a village in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, police said today. “The skirmish took place late last night in Basaguda village leaving one Maoist dead,” Bijapur’s Superintendent of Police K L Dhruv told PTI. A joint team of Commando Battalion for Resolute Action’s (CoBRA) 204th battalion and district force had left for a counter-insurgency operation from Basaguda police station last night, he said.

After crossing Talperu river, which cuts Basaguda habitation into two parts, when the security forces were advancing, a small group of ultras hiding in the forest triggered blasts of two pipe bombs following which a gun battle broke out between the two sides, he said.

The Naxalites, however, soon escaped from the spot on finding the security personnel zeroing-in on them.

Later, during search, the body of a rebel, a tiffin bomb, detonator and electric wires were recovered from the spot, the SP said.

“No harm was reported to security forces in the encounter. Although, according to police jawans, some more ultras were hit by bullets, they managed to flee into the dense forest with the help of their colleagues,” he said.

Prima facie it appears that the rebels had come to the spot to plant explosives in the night to harm the security men but their bid was foiled by the patrolling team, Dhruv said.

The identity of the killed rebel was yet to be ascertained, he added.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...onnel-killed-in-face-off-with-naxals-4526684/
By: PTI | Raipur | Published:February 15, 2017 6:56 pm
Two Special Task Force (STF) personnel, including an assistant platoon commander, were on Wednesday killed in a gun battle with Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district, police said. The skirmish took place in the forest of Tumdiwal region under Mardapal police station limits in which the two STF personnel were killed, Special Director General of Police (anti-Naxal operations) D M Awasthi told media.

A joint team of STF and district force had launched the operation towards interior forest of Mardapal, around 350 kms from the state capital Raipur. When the security personnel reached the forest of Tumdiwal on Wednesday, they came under heavy firing from a group of ultras leading to the gun battle between the two sides.

“An assistant platoon commander and a constable belonging to STF were killed in the incident,” Awasthi said. Reinforcement was rushed to the spot and the bodies of the personnel are being evacuated from the forest, he said. Further details were awaited as the exchange of fire was still reported to be on, he added.

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http://indianexpress.com/article/in...of-maoist-surrendering-in-his-native-village/
A zonal commander of the CPI (Maoists) and six of his associates surrendered before the police in his native village in East Singhbhum district Wednesday. The zonal commander, Kanhu Munda alias Mangal Ji, had been active for more than two decades and carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head. Officials said this could well be the first case of Maoist surrendering in his own native village.

The surrender took place in the presence senior police officials, including DIG (Kolhan) Range, Prabhat Kumar, in Jiyan village under Gudabandha police station area of East Singhbhum district this evening. Kanhu’s associate, Fogra Munda, who carried Rs 10 lakh reward, and others including Chunnu Munda, Bhoglu Singh Munda, Jiten Munda, Shankar and Kajal, a woman Maoist, were among those who surrendered.

Kumar said Kanhu, who was secretary in the Jharkhand-Odisha-Bengal regional committee, had become part of the Maoist think tank in the area. “His surrender, along with that of his associates, has come a huge morale booster. With this, one of our patches; on the West Bengal border; has been cleared of Maoist presence. Also, the manner in which he has surrendered will go a long way in persuading others to follow suit,” said Kumar.

Arguably, this was the first case where a Maoist surrendered before his villagemates. “The idea was brought before him and Kanhu felt comfortable surrendering before his own villagemates,” said Kumar. Residents from adjacent villages were also called to witness the simple ceremony where a cheque of Rs 25 lakh was given to Kanhu, as per surrender policy. On Fogra, the police had proposed a reward of Rs 10 lakh, but it was yet to be cleared by the screening committee.

The surrendering Maoists also deposited one INSAS and two pistols. So far, a total of 47 cases registered against Kanhu have come to light in East Singhbhum district. “We are checking out his credentials in other districts and states also,” said Kumar. One of the cases in which he was involved was killing of Inspector Sunil Nag and three others in 2006 in Singhpura village of Gurabanda area. He was also involved in the kidnapping of BDO (Dhalbhumgarh) in 2010.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/naxal-held-ied-planted-by-maoists-detected-in-chhattisgarh/
The IED, weighing 5kg, was detected by a team of CRPF personnel in the forests at around 11:15 hrs.

By: PTI | Raipur | Published:February 18, 2017 7:10 pm

A Naxal was arrested and an improvised explosive device (IED) laid by Maoists recovered by security forces in separate incidents in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said. While the ultra, Bhandari Rammurty (24), was arrested in Usoor police station area, the homemade bomb was recovered from Sarkeguda police station limits of the district, a senior police official told reporters.

A joint team of CRPF and district force yesterday launched a search operation around Galgam, Bhusapur and Marudbaka villages in Usoor region, around 450km from the state capital Raipur.


While they were advancing through forests of Marudbaka this morning, they rounded up Rammurty who was trying to escape after spotting the patrolling party, he said.


During interrogation, the rebel admitted to his involvement in the indiscriminate firing on security forces in the Usoor forests on December 13, 2015, the official said.


The IED, weighing 5kg, was detected by a team of CRPF personnel in the forests at around 11:15 hrs, he said.


The explosive was planted by Maoists to target security personnel during their operation in the area, the official said, adding it was later defused.

 

[Hindustani78]

The forests are located along the borders of Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Pamed is located about 500km south of the state capital Raipur and close to Telangana's Khammam district.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/chhattisgarh-woman-naxal-killed-in-gunfight-4533184/

By: PTI | Raipur | Published:February 19, 2017 6:40 pm
A woman Naxal was killed in an exchange of fire between a group of ultras and security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Sunday, police said. The gun-battle took place this morning in Kavargatta forests under Pamed police station limits of the district during a joint operation of Greyhounds (anti-Naxal force of Telangana) and Chhattisgarh Police, Bijapur Superintendent of Police K L Dhruv told PTI by phone.

The forests are located along the borders of Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Pamed is located about 500km south of the state capital Raipur and close to Telangana’s Khammam district.

As per preliminary information, apart from the body of a woman Naxal, security forces recovered two weapons from the encounter spot during a search after the firing stopped, the police officer said.

No injuries were reported among the security personnel, he said. The body of the Naxal was being evacuated to Telangana and her identity was yet to be ascertained, Dhruv added.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ce-during-polls-in-Odisha/article17331288.ece

Communication network do not work properly in the area
For the first time, unmanned aerial vehicles or drones were used for surveillance of polling booths in the Maoist-infested Malkangiri district during the fourth phase of pachayat polls in the State on Sunday.

Maoists threats

Due to Maoists threats, tribal inhabitants of Kalimela block had not dared to vote in the past several elections, including the panchayat polls in 2012, and the Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls in 2013. According to inhabitants of Bodigeta panchayat, most of them have not dared to defy the diktat of the naxalites in the past 15 years.

Hypersensitive booths

Drones fitted with high-resolution cameras kept watch on regions around several hypersensitive booths in the Maoist-threat prone panchayats like Bodigeta, Telarai, Gomphakonda etc of Kalimela block of the district, said Malkangiri Superintendent of Police (SP) Mitrabhanu Mohapatra.

Footage from the drones is immediately transferred live to the special control room at Malkangiri district headquarter for analysis, monitoring and action. Internet and conventional communication network do not work properly in the Maoist-infested area of Balimela reservoir where these drones were used for surveillance.

“We used our police radio communication network for live data transfer from drones to the control room,” said Mr. Mohapatra.

Pilot project

Citing security reasons, Mr. Mohapatra refused to reveal the number of drones used for surveillance of polling booths in Malkangiri district on Sunday. But he added that it was part of a pilot project related to the continuing anti-Maoist operations in the district bordering the Maoist-infested regions of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Polling was held in 23 panchayats under the three zilla parishad zones of Kalimela block on Sunday. Around 175 booths were identified as sensitive and 53 as hyper-sensitive.

Remote jungle terrain

Flying at a height of 300 to 500 metres, the drones were able to provide detailed information about movements in the remote jungle terrain around the remote hypersensitive booths in Maoist-infested regions.

Maoists had threatened to kill candidates and also chop off the thumbs of voters participating in the panchayat elections. In some parts of the cut-off area, panchayat poll had to be deferred due to the Maoist threat.

But drones aided the democratic election process in the Maoist-infested areas of Kalimela block like Borigeta and Marigeta on Sunday.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ts-killed-in-chhattisgarh/article17330829.ece

Nagpur: Two alleged members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) were killed in two separate encounters with security forces in restive Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Sunday.

The first encounter took place in Pamed area of Bijapur district.

The State’s Anti-Naxal Operations (ANO) unit said in a statement, “One Maoist was killed and two weapons were recovered in a joint operation of Telangana’s Greyhounds [elite anti-Maoist unit of Telangana police] and Bijapur district police in Pamed. This is a core Maoist area and it was major offensive operation by the security forces.”

The second encounter was reported near Dabbamarka and Pottakpalli area of Sukma district.

Dabbamarka and Pottakpalli are considered a den of dreaded Maoist commander Hidma, who heads the CPI (Maoist) military battalion number 2.

The ANO statement added, “In a successful operation by the STF [Special Task Force] and the DRG [District Reserve Guard] in the core area of Maoists’ military battalion.”

 

[Pakistan First]

These are the places where we should be concentrating.....
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bihar.

 

[Hindustani78]

Securitymen carrying out search operation after the encounter with Maoists in Banka district of Bihar. (HT Photo)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...r-encounter/story-jPs0hwY3fPWi7XyhfGjlmK.html

A self-styled sub-zonal commander of CPI (Maoist) was killed in an encounter with security forces in Left wing extremist (LWE)-affected Banka district of Bihar, 254km from state capital Patna, on Tuesday.

Banka superintendent of police (SP) Rajeev Ranjan said Mantu Khaira was gunned down by a joint team of the special task force (STF) of Bihar police and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) in Dahibara forests in Anandpur police outpost area of the district.

The SP, who led the anti-Maoist operation, said Khaira was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head.

Two SLRs and one AK-47 assault rifle and some grenades were recovered from the encounter site, he added.

Ranjan said the encounter took place when the STF-SSB joint team, acting on a specific input, reached the forest.

Many Maoists were believed to have been injured in the exchange of fire, the SP said, adding that no securityman was wounded.

In Patna, inspector general (operations) Kundan Krishnan told HT that the place of encounter was about 45km from the CRPF camp at Belhar in Banka distict.

“The STF-SSB team came under heavy fire from Maosits when it reached the forest at about 3am, leading to a gunbattle between both the sides, said the IG.

During the search following the encounter, the body of Khaira, who was clad in police uniform, three sophisticated firearms and some other items were recovered from the spot, Krishnan said.

Khaira was heading the Maoist group active in forests of Charkapathar in Jamui and Kauwakol in Nawada district of Bihar as well as Garhi in Giridih district of Jharkhand, the IG said.

Khaira, who loved to wear jeans, had weakness for alcohol and woman, said a police officer on condition of anonymity.

Believed to be a close associate of Arvind Yadav, a self-styled CPI (Maoist) commander of Jamui-Banka zone, Khaira was involved in many incidents of violence, the officer said.

Khaira was directly involved in torching five vehicles, including two JCB earth excavators of a private company engaged in bridge construction near Dudhiatari village of Banka on July 20, 2015, he added.

He was also suspected to be involved in an attack on a police team during raids in the forests at Hardiya-Parariya forest area of Banka last year, the police officer said.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...-pressure-bomb-blast-in-chhattisgarh-4536358/

By: PTI | Raipur | Published:February 21, 2017 5:18 pm
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was on Tuesday injured when a pressure bomb, planted by Naxals, went off in a dense forest of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, police said. “The incident took place at around 10:30 am when a patrolling team from CRPF’s 212th battalion was out on a road opening duty in Kistaram police station area,” an official of the paramilitary force told PTI.

While they were cordoning off a patch near Padaiguda village, the jawan inadvertently stepped on a pressure IED (improvised explosive device) laid by Maoists, triggering a blast that left him injured, he said.

The CRPF man, identified as Constable Ghanshyam, lost lower portion of a leg in the explosion, the official said.


Soon after getting information about the blast, reinforcement was rushed to the spot, around 388km from Raipur, and the injured was airlifted to Bhadrachalam (Telangana), where he was given preliminary treatment. Ghanshyam was later shifted to Hyderabad for further medical care, he added.

Meanwhile, a combing operation has been launched in the region.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/chhattisgarh/seven-maoists-killed-in-chhattisgarh_1979751.html
Narayanpur: Seven Maoists were killed in a gunfight with security forces here on Tuesday.

A joint team of state police and paramilitary forces seized two rifles, two handguns and explosives from the spot.

Naryanpur Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena said, "A joint team of special task force and Reserved Police Force was on patrol on Tuesday morning when Maoists attacked the patrol party near Narayanpur and Dnatewada border. The team fired retaliatory shots and the gunfight lasted for two hours."

Meena said that the bodies of the Maoists have not been identified yet.


First Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 - 21:16

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...an-airlifted-to-Hyderabad/article17343314.ece

A CRPF jawan, who reportedly suffered a grievous leg injury in a blast in the neighbouring Sukma district on Tuesday morning, was treated at the government area hospital in Bhadrachalam before being airlifted to Hyderabad for better treatment later in the day.

Sources said that Ghanshyam Kumar, a jawan of Chhattisgarh-based CRPF battalion, was brought to Bhadrachalam from the blast site near Dharmapenta in Sukma district of the neighbouring State, with a serious leg injury in the afternoon.

His right leg had to be amputated in order to save his life, hospital sources said.

He was then airlifted to a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad. His condition was stated to be stable.

Meanwhile, the police identified the body of a woman Maoist killed in Sunday’s alleged encounter in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh as Kunja Adame alias Soni, 26, of Usoor block of Bijapur district.

According to sources, the body, which was preserved at the mortuary in the area hospital in Bhadrachalam after post-mortem, was handed over to her relatives on Tuesday.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...in-Chhattisgarh-encounter/article17343810.ece

Of them, three carried a reward of ₹5 lakh each

At least seven members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) were killed during an exchange of fire with security forces in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.

“An exchange of fire took place between a DRG [District Reserve Guard] team and the Maoists in Puspal on the border of Narayanpur and Dantewada district on Tuesday. Seven bodies of Maoists, two INSAS rifles, and four other weapons have been recovered,” said the Chhattisgarh Anti-Naxal Operation (ANO) unit in a statement.

Special Director General of Police of the ANO, D.M. Awasthi, expressed the possibility of “around a dozen Maoists” being killed in the encounter. However, only seven bodies were recovered by the DRG team.

According to Additional Inspector General of Police of the ANO, Devnath, three deceased were identified as CPI (Maoist) Bodhghat area committee member and LOS commander Nirmala, deputy LOS commander Somji and area committee member Nasik. “All three carried a reward of ₹5 lakh each,” he said.

IED blast

In a separate incident, a CRPF jawan was grievously injured in an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast in Sukma district.The blast took place near Paidigudem village under the Kistaram police station limits when the CRPF team was out on a patrol.

The injured CRPF jawan Ghanshyam of 212 Battalion was airlifted to Raipur for treatment.

Two held

In another incident, the Maharashtra police arrested two Maoists in Gadchiroli district bordering Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.Maoists’ platoon no.3 member Nilesh Potawi and Kasansur LOS member Ajit Pudo were arrested from Reknar forest.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/two-maoist-operatives-surrender-in-malkangiri-4540442/

By: PTI | Malkangiri | Published:February 23, 2017 8:20 pm
Two women Maoist operatives who carried Rs four lakh reward each on their heads, surrendered before the Police in Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Thursday. The two, identified as Sumitra Madvi alias Manila (35) and Jagi Madkami (33), were allegedly involved in over a dozen offences including killings and blasts, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra told reporters after the duo surrendered before him.

Sumitra had joined the rebel cadre in 2001 and was active in Kalilmela Area Committee of Malkangiri division under Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist), he said. She was allegedly involved in the Rajulkonda attack on Police, Padia Panchayat office landmine explosion and Rammadhi murder, besides Damanjodi attack in 2009, the police said. Similarly, Jagi Madkami of Santekaguda village in Kalimela block joined the Maoist outfit in 2008.

She was allegedly involved in Penta Madhi murder case in 2011 and conspiring in the Padia block office landmine explosion in 2013, they said. Odisha Government had announced a reward of Rs four lakh each on their heads, the SP said adding two women would be provided facilities as per government rules. The duo decided to give up arms and return to the social mainstream as they were fed up and disillusioned with the activities of the Maoists, the police said.