Maoist leader in-charge of Assam operations surrenders

Tingraj Orang, however, did not surrender any weapon, the police said

Assam police on Tuesday said Tingraj Orang, a senior Maoist leader and in-charge of CPI (Maoist) operations in the state surrendered before Hiren Nath, additional director general of police (special branch).

A statement issued by the police headquarters in Guwahati said Orang, 49, was the convenor of Assam State Organizing Committee of CPI (Maoist), which was formed in 2017 in a meeting of Eastern Regional Bureau (ERB) held along the Jharkhand-Odisha border.

He was the general secretary of Barak and Brahmaputra Valley Zonal Committees of CPI (Maoist) in Assam, it claimed.

“He started his association with the Left as a member of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and CPM in 1989. He was the president of Adivasi Chah Janagoshti Suraksha Committee. He formally joined CPI (Maoist) in 2006 and also met ERB chief Kishan Da,” said the statement.

Orang, who belongs to an Adivasi community associated with tea gardens in Assam, was arrested in 2011 in Rourkella, Orissa along with two other CPI (Maoist) cadres of Assam - Aditya Bora and Ajoy Sabor. Ornag hails from Samuktola village in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh district having a large tea garden population.

“He is the only senior Maoist leader expanding bases of the CPI (Maoist) in Barak and Brahmaputra Valley of Assam. His surrender would be a huge setback for CPI (Maoist) movement in Assam,” said the statement.

Orang, however, did not surrender any weapon, said the statement.

Assam police, which had a few years ago constituted a committee to study Maoist activities in the state said that the CPI (Maoist) was following the footsteps of People Liberation Army (PLA), a banned militant group in Manipur. But no major operation against CPI (Maoist) in the state came to light in the past few years.

Watch latest videos by DH here: