Ranchi, Jan. 7: Maoist zonal commander Dimba Pahan (58), who carried Rs 15 lakh reward on his head, surrendered before Khunti SP Ashwini Kumar Sinha at his office in the presence of South Chotanagpur range DIG R.K. Dhan today, while two supporters of the rebel group were arrested from Khelawan in Ranchi.

A native of Barigarha village in Arki area of Khunti, Dimba joined the Maoists in 1998. He was involved in several cases of Ranchi, Khunti, Saraikela-Kharsawan and West Singhbhum districts, including the murder of former Tamar MLA Ramesh Singh Munda, Bundu DSP Pramod Kumar Gupta and special branch inspector Francis Indewar. He also robbed an ICICI Bank cash van of over Rs 5.07 crore and 1.2kg gold in May, 2008.

Dimba, however, denied his involvement.

His brother Kundan Pahan, who also carries Rs 15 lakh reward on head, is a member of Bihar-Jharkhand special area committee of Maoists. But, Dimba claimed he had no contact with his brother for past several years.

He said that he was disenchanted by the Maoists following degradation in their ideology and style of functioning.

The Khunti SP said Dimba had sent him a word expressing his wish. "Today, he walked into my office and formally surrendered. He would be given all due benefitsThe Maoist promised to motivate others to surrender and avail due benefits. district headquarters, in the wee hours today.

The PLFI rebels, however, managed to escape leaving behind four carbines, including three countrymade, two double barrel guns, a countrymade pistol, three magazines and cartridges besides backpacks.

According to sources, Khunti SP Sinha was tipped off about the movement of PLFI zonal commander Jeedan Gudiya and area commander Prabhu Sahay Bodra along with their close aides in the Keonjhar forests.

The security forces traced them on the southern end of the forest.

The rebels, however, sensed that the security forces' movement and fled into the dense forests, taking advantage of darkness and thick fog.

"Our boys spotted them around 4am. They did not open fire. So, there was no question of retaliation. We have cordoned off the area from different sides and intensified our search operation," the Khunti SP said.

He added a regular carbine, recovered from them, might have been stolen from the police and the double barrel guns from authorised licensees. "An FIR has been registered at Murhu police station under different sections of Arms and Criminal Law (Amendment) Acts," Sinha added.