37 Maoists, Including 3 senior leaders, Surrender before Telangana DGP

A significant development took place on Saturday in Telangana as 37 Maoist insurgents surrendered before Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) B. Shivadhar Reddy. This mass surrender is the result of intensified government actions against the Maoist movement in the state.

Among the surrendering Maoists were three members of the Telangana State Committee and 25 women cadres. Specifically, the group included three State Committee members, three Divisional Committee members, nine Area Committee members, and 22 other party activists, according to the Telangana DGP. The State Committee members are Koyyada Sambaiah alias Azad (aged 49), Appasi Narayana alias Ramesh (aged 70), and Muchaki Somada, who belongs to the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. While Sambaiah and Narayana are from the Telangana Committee, Somada is part of the Special Zonal Committee.

The surrendered Maoists handed over a significant cache of weapons to the police, including one AK-47 rifle, two SLRs, four .303 rifles, one G3 rifle, and 346 rounds of live ammunition.

The DGP attributed this wave of surrenders to several factors, including the appeal made by Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, consistent mechanical and strategic pressure by security forces, ideological differences within the party, and internal disputes among the Maoists. A total cash reward of Rs 1.40 crore has been distributed among the 37 surrendering Maoists, with Sambaiah and Narayana each receiving a bounty of Rs 20 lakh.

In his statement, the DGP also invited all Maoist cadres from the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) to join the mainstream peacefully. He added that five of the nine Central Committee members of the organization are from Telangana, naming Ganapati, Malla Raji Reddy, Tippiri Tirupathi alias Devji, Hanumanthu, and Narahari. It remains unclear whether Devji currently leads the faction.

The DGP clarified that the surrenders of Sambaiah and Narayana were voluntary and not a result of arrests during custody. Somada cited health issues and the difficulty of continuing party activities under current conditions as reasons for surrendering. Sambaiah and other current State Committee leaders, including Damodar and Venkanna, are reported to have considered joining the mainstream following the government’s appeal. This incident underscores the impact of Telangana government’s policies and security measures in weakening Maoist influence in the region and improving the overall security environment.