Most-wanted Maoist couple with Rs 7 lakh bounty surrender before Kolkata Police

A Maoist couple, Mangal and Malti, who were among the most wanted in West Bengal and neighbouring Jharkhand, surrendered before Kolkata Police on Friday. The two appeared before Police Commissioner Ajay K. Nand at Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar. At the time of surrender, they handed over an AK-47 and an INSAS rifle to the police.

Police said both Mangal and Malti are residents of West Bengal. Mangal is from Salboni in Paschim Medinipur, while Malti lives in Gopiballavpur in Jhargram district. The couple was also feared in Jharkhand.

Their activities were mainly confined to Jharkhand, but they often came to West Bengal. Mangal first joined Maoist activities in the Dalma area of Jharkhand and later in the Saranda area. Malti joined the Left-wing Maoist group after Mangal. From the start, she was active in operations in Jharkhand.

According to police, since the beginning of this year Maoists had begun leaving the Saranda forest area in Jharkhand because of continuous pressure from the security forces. Working there had become difficult for them. The security forces' list had the names of about 13 Maoists from West Bengal, who have been arrested in various operations.

Police had placed a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on Mangal and Rs 2 lakh on Malti, a total of Rs 7 lakh on the two. Three Maoists were recently arrested in Jharkhand. A most-wanted Maoist leader named Pushpa had surrendered in Kolkata a few months ago. Many Maoists have surrendered earlier too, and now Mangal and Malti have also surrendered before Kolkata Police.

Speaking to the media after the surrender, Police Commissioner Ajay K. Nand said Mangal joined the Maoist movement around 2010. After 2011-12, he moved to Jharkhand. He is known to have been close to the late Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao, alias Kishenji, who was killed in an encounter with the police in November 2011.

Explaining why he decided to surrender, Mangal said he had realised that social change cannot be brought about through armed struggle. He said the two of them decided to give up the path of violence and return to the mainstream of society, and so chose to surrender.