Sambalpur: The outlawed CPI-Maoist outfit received a severe jolt with the surrender of one of its top cadre Kunu Dehuri on Friday.
Dehuri surrendered before the police at the district police headquarters here.
Briefing mediapersons, Director General of Police (DGP) R P Sharma said Dehuri was the secretary of Sambalpur-Deogarh-Sundergarh (SDS) Divisional Committee and spearheading the Maoist activities in these three districts and the adjoining areas of Rourkela and Angul districts.
A native of Jujumara area of Sambalpur district, Dehuri joined the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) in 2002 and continued as an active member after MCCI was renamed as CPI-Maoist in 2004. He is involved in as many as 51 criminal cases mostly in Sambalpur, Deogarh and Rourkela police districts and was carrying a cash reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head, the DGP added.
“We had been tracking his movement for quite some time in SDS Division. Dehuri surrendered before the police as he had lost faith in the Maoist ideologies. This apart, the strength of the outfit had dwindled following repeated operations by the police and the Central Paramilitary Forces while it also failed to strengthen its base as it lost local support,” the DGP pointed out.
Terming the surrender of Dehuri is a major achievement of the Odisha Police, he said the Maoist activity in the SDS area would be severely weakened.
Dehuri would be provided with a cash of Rs 2.5 lakh, a homestead land and the amount required for the construction of a house on the homestead land in accordance with the surrender rehabilitation policy of the state government, he added.
