Bhawanipatna: A 27-year-old Maoist, Kesab Veladi alias Ramdas, surrendered before the Kalahandi police on Tuesday.
The Odisha government had announced a cash reward of Rs 4 lakh on his head.
A member of Raul Area Committee (Kalahandi-Kandhmal-Boudh and Nayagarh Division), he was involved in the 2019 torching of machineries at the contractors camp sites in Kalahandi and Kandhmal districts.
According to police sources, Ramdas had joined Gangalur Dalam in Chhatisgarh in 2009 and worked there for a year. He was then transferred to Odisha to work under Maoist leader Jampanna. In 2011, he was shifted to Kharang Nadi area committee as Area Committee Manager and worked there till 2018.
Kalahandi SP Batulla Gangadhar told the media that Ramdas was being physically tortured by senior leaders, who opposed development of the interior pockets. “Ramdas wanted to marry a woman cadre but his request was turned down by senior leaders,” the SP added.
Ramdas told the mediapersons that he lost confidence in Maoist ideology after seeing mental and physical exploitation of women cadre.
“I felt that the Maoists have failed to keep their promises on the development of Adivasis and always opposed road and school construction by threatening the contractors for their own selfish gains. Disillusioned, I finally decided to join the mainstream,” he said.
