Eight Maoists surrender in Odisha

Eight Maoists, including three area commanders, surrendered to the police today in Odisha's Malkangiri district.
The eight, from remote Chitrakonda area in the district, surrendered here to Superintendent of Police Akhileswar Singh.
Three of them, brothers Raghu Hantal (24) and Iswar Hantal (23) besides Patra Hantal (28) were militia area commanders, Singh said.
They were being led by Madhab and Chenti of Guma Popular Maoist Dalam since 2009, he said.
The other five were identified as Gangadhar Khara (29), Sarathi Hantal (27), Gobi Khila (32), Chandra Khara (28) and Trinath Hantal (24).
The Maoists, who were responsible for organising meetings, said while surrendering that they decided to return to the mainstream as they were "disillusioned" with their activities.

The eight would be rehabilitated according to the government's policies, the SP added.