Hyderabad: In the wake of Maoist activities waning in Telangana, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has hinted that senior police officials should consider scaling down staff in the Greyhounds, a specialised commando force that deals with the Left-Wing Extremist problem.
Speaking at the ‘Telangana Police Retreat 2026’ event of the state police on Monday,March 9, Reddy said the 1,200 staff working in Greyhounds can be relocated to some other wings of the Police department.
“You have 1,200 well-trained people in the Greyhounds. In the wake of combing and other activities coming down, they can be rearranged in some other places (wings of the police department).
If there are sanctioned posts for a particular purpose and when that purpose is resolved, what is the use of continuing that staff in that department?” Reddy has asked.
Ahead of the March 31 deadline set by the Centre, as many as 130 Maoists, including some women cadre, surrendered before Revanth Reddy here on March 7.
“Now there is no Telangana state committee of Maoists. It had completely vanished,” the DGP had then told reporters.
On February 24, top Maoist commander and the key “strategist” of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit, Thippiri Tirupati, also known as Devuji, surrendered before the Telangana police, after over four decades of underground life.
Besides Devuji, another central committee member, Malla Raji Reddy, and two other ultras — Bade Chokka Rao @ Jagan and Nune Narasimha Reddy @ Ganganna also laid down their arms.
A senior police official of Telangana said there have been deliberations within the department on the issues of Greyhounds, and no decision has been taken yet.
“Even if the force is reduced, the services of the commandos can be used in some other wing of the police,” the official said.
The official said the packages offered to surrendered Maoists are implemented in letter and spirit in Telangana.
However, Reddy’s suggestion did not receive any enthusiasm from retired senior police officials.
They said the sudden slashing of the workforce from Greyhounds could lead to multiple problems, as there may be a shortage of trained personnel in future in case of requirement.
“You can not remove the entire wing at once. If the government wants to reduce, they can do it in a phased manner, assessing the situation,” a retired DGP told PTI.
Another senior IPS officer who retired as DGP in the undivided Andhra Pradesh said Greyhounds, which was created in 1989-90, was regarded as one of the elite forces across the country with several states sending their personnel to get trained in the Greyhounds training academy.
“If the wing is abolished now, tomorrow you will not get trained personnel for the purpose. The Telangana Government has to tread carefully,” the former police official said.
Greyhounds, which handles Left-Wing Extremist problems on the police front with local police, was formed in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The dedicated organisation/unit was developed by IPS officer K S Vyas. Greyhounds personnel are well-trained in jungle warfare to take on Maoists in the forests. Greyhounds became a training centre for anti-Maoist forces of other states, sources said.
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