Bhubaneswar: Once they had weapons in their hands and were dead against the state police and government, but now they wear the Indian flag on their faces. We are speaking about some surrendered Maoists who were invited to watch the on-going Hockey Men’s World Cup at Kalinga Stadium today.
Forget watching an international hockey match, most of them saw the capital city of Odisha for the very first time in their life.
As many as 30 surrendered Maoists, 10 from Koraput and 20 from Malkangiri districts, were invited by the Odisha government to watch the hockey match.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met them personally at the stadium and watched the hockey match sitting beside them. He was also seen shaking his hands with them, his rare posture.
“Many Maoists have been surrendering before the state police nowadays following the holistic development and rehabilitation policy of the state government. We have brought 10 surrendered Maoists from Koraput and 20 from Malkangiri districts to Bhubaneswar. We arranged the programme after they expressed their desire to watch a hockey match,” said Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Jagmohan Meena.
“They will also visit some of the tourist locations as it is an exposure visit for them since most of them have not seen Bhubaneswar,” he added.
Expressing their feeling they also thanked the Malkangiri district administration for arranging the programme.
“I am extremely happy that we are given this opportunity to be here. I have come to Bhubaneswar for the first time. This is a completely different experience which had never thought of in my life. So, I thank our SP sir, MP and state government for bringing us here,” said Malati Kobasi.
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Ms Kalinga