12 Maoists surrender in Odisha

At least 12 Maoists today surrendered before the police in Odisha's Koraput district with a desire to return to the social mainstream, police said.

All the surrendered Maoists were associated with Srikakulam-Koraput divisional committee under Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) and they belonged to Narayanpatna in Koraput district, police said.

"The militia were assisting in spread of CPI (Maoist) activities in the area. Apart from organising village level meetings they used to build networks for the outlawed Maoists organisation," said SP (Koraput) Awinash Kumar.

With this, as many as 33 Maoists have surrendered in Koraput district since January 2014. Meanwhile, police have appealed to all Naxals and their supporters to shun violence and join social mainstream.