In a major setback to the Maoist movement in Odisha, one of its top leaders, Kunu Dehury, today surrendered before police in Sambalpur, a senior police officer said.
Dehury, who was carrying a hefty reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head, laid down his arms before Sambalpur SP Sanjeev Arora this morning as he was disillusioned with the Maoist ideology, director general of police (DGP) R P Sharma said.
"The Maoist leader's surrender will certainly affect the Sambalpur-Deogarh-Sundergarh unit of the outfit," he said.
Dehury had joined the erstwhile Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC-I) in 2002 and was elevated to the level of Divisional Committee Secretary in 2015.
"The case would be examined as per the existing surrender and rehabilitation scheme of the state government," the DGP told reporters here.
He had spearheaded at least 51 attacks - 42 in Sambalpur, 5 in Rourkela and 4 in Deogarh - over the past few years.
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