The ‘secretary’ of the Kalahandi Area Committee of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) identified as Laxman Apka alias Lalsu, carrying a cash reward of INR 500,000 on his head surrendered before the Police at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi District of Odisha on May 1, reports Hindustan Times. Lalsu had joined the Maoists in 2009 at Chhattisgarh, but shifted to Niyamagiri in Kalahandi in 2011. Since then, he was working in Karlapat area as ‘Area Committee Member (ACM)’ and was later promoted to ‘Area Committee Secretary (ACS)’. He was involved in at least five encounters with the Police between 2016 and 2020. These encounters occurred at Manaska, Barangpadar, Turkey, Kotalghati and Sohespadar, stated a release by Kalahandi Police.