Three Maoists, one of them involved in the killing of a Congress party leader in 2013, have surrendered in Odisha's Malkangiri District.
"Today, three Maoists cadres surrendered. One of them is Irma Kawasi, an active member of Darbha division of Maoists. He was involved in killing of Mahendra Karma and other political leaders in Jeeram Ghati ambush and various other attacks," said Superintendent of Police (SP) Mitrabhanu Mohapatra.
The insurgents decided to surrender on Monday as they realised that the rebels had deviated from the Maoist ideology, the SP said.
The three have been identified as Irma Kawasi, Era Madkami and a female cadre named Radhika.
The Maoists had killed at least 19 people when they ambushed a convoy carrying leaders of the Congress party in a dense forest in Chhattisgarh in 2013.
They felled trees to block the 20-car convoy and then detonated a landmine and raked the vehicles with gunfire.
Among those killed was Mahendra Karma, a senior Congress leader from Chhattisgarh who founded an anti-Maoist group and was believed to be the main target of the attack. The state's then Congress party leader and his son were also killed.
Kawasi said he was involved in the killing of Mahendra Karma, while two others were active in Kalimela area of Malkangiri.
"I was involved in firing at Congress leader Mahendra Karma, who had gone for a meeting in Sukma. I was also involved in killing of CRPF police in nine-day Jeeram Ghati ambush. Maoist leaders of Chhattisgarh leaders were killing our tribal brothers in Odisha without any cause," said Kawasi.
Twenty eight-year-old Kawasi was an armed cadre of Communist Party of India-Maoist and joined the outfit in December 2012.
The police described the surrender as a major success, saying the three would be rehabilitated as per the government's policy.
