Odisha: 400 'sympathisers' in Malkangiri withdraw support to Maoists

KORAPUT: Over 400 Maoist sympathisers of Dhuliput panchayat pledged before the police and the BSF that they will not support the rebels any more and will participate in development activities initiated by the state government. They made the pledge during a special programme organised at Lauguda under Chitrakonda police limits in Swabhiman Anchal in Malkangiri district on Saturday.
"We had been supporting the rebels under compulsion for years. But now we have realised that the Maoists did nothing for development of the area," one of the sympathisers said.
"The sympathisers used to assist the Maoists in executing their offensives along the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border, besides providing logistical support to them," DIG (south-western range) Rajesh Pandit said.
He added, "Owing to extensive area dominance exercises and the execution of development activities, nearly 2,000 sympathisers have pledged to withdraw their support to the Maoists before the police in the last six months."
"The DIG appealed to the 'misguided youngsters' to shun the path of violence and return to the mainstream to cooperate with the government in its activities.