Hyderabad: In a major development, 20 Maoists, including commander Badse Sukka alias Deva and SCM Kankanala Raji Reddy alias Venkatesh, surrendered before Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) Shivadhar Reddy on Saturday, January 3.
Deva, who headed Battalion No 1 of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), is considered the second most important leader. He carried a bounty of Rs 75,00,000.
The 49-year-old joined the Maoist movement in 2003 and was elevated to senior ranks. Nearly 20 years ago, he was chosen to lead the battalion by slain leader Madavi Hiduma, who was killed in an encounter in November last year.
Deva’s surrender is viewed as a major strategic victory for security forces, as he commanded the most elite fighting unit of the outlawed CPI(Maoist). The forces describe him as a “perfect strategist and ruthless in eliminating his enemies.” He led several ambushes, the most notable being the assassination of Chhattisgarh Congress leader Mahendra Karma in 2013.
Along with Deva, another top leader, Kankanala Raji Reddy alias Venkatesh, also surrendered. He joined the movement in 1997. He became a Divisional Committee Member (DCM) in 2010 and was promoted to State Committee Member (SCM) nine years later. He led teams in the Warangal and Karimnagar districts, playing a key role in establishing a guerrilla base on the Karreguttalu Hills, across the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border.
Along with the above-mentioned leaders, 18 others surrendered. As many as 2,206 live ammunition and 48 various firearms, worth Rs 20,30,000, were laid down.
The surrendered Maoists will be rewarded with a cumulative sum of Rs 1.81 crore, along with an interim relief of Rs 20,000 each, to be handed over to them.
“This is the biggest arms surrender by the Maoists,” the police said.
Out of the total 509 surrendered cadres, 483 cadres are from Chhattisgarh, 24 from Telangana, and one each from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The DGP had said on December 30 that these surrenders underscore the steady decline of the organisation.
14 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh on Saturday
At least 14 Communist Party of India (Maoist) members were killed in two exchanges of fire in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.
According to reports, the two exchanges of fire took place between security forces and the Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur and Sukma districts early on Saturday.
The security forces are conducting a combing and search operation to trace the bodies of the Maoists who were killed in the exchange of fire in the deep forest of the two districts.
Senior police officials are monitoring the operations, and additional forces were sent to the spot to assist the personnel engaged in the operations.
As many as 285 Maoists were gunned down in separate encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh last year.
Of them, 257 were eliminated in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts, including Bijapur, while 27 others were gunned down in Gariaband district, which falls in the Raipur division.
