Rebels killed in Kandhamal encounter carried Rs 34L reward

Bhubaneswar: Police said the five suspected Maoists who were gunned down in Kandhamal on July 5 together carried a reward of Rs 34 lakh on their head. This is the first time that rebels carrying this kind of high reward were killed in a single-day in the state.
There have been instances of deaths of more than five Maoists on a single day in the past. But, the deaths of Maoists carrying Rs 34 lakh reward on a single day is the highest so far. Some years ago, a few rebels carrying reward of Rs 25 lakh were killed on Angul-Deogarh border, a senior police officer said.
Among those killed on Sunday, Sukru aka Kosa Sodhi was a state committee member of CPI (Maoist) carrying Rs 20 lakh reward. A divisional committee member carried Rs 5 lakh reward, two area commander members, Rs 4 lakh each, and a party member carried Rs 1 lakh on his head.
Notably, the Rs 34 lakh will be given to Kandhamal Police. DGP Abhay had earlier appealed to the Maoists to surrender and take advantage of the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the government.
“This action by the security forces deep inside the jungle of Kandhamal will give boost to development projects of the state government, similar to those that have veen taken up in the Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri district,” a police officer said.