Hyderabad: Muppala Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapathy, the ideological head of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and arguably the most consequential figure in the organisation’s history, has reportedly been taken into custody by central intelligence officials and is being held at an undisclosed location in Delhi.
Reports indicate that Ganapathy, 77, had been living in Nepal not as a Maoist functionary but as an ordinary citizen, in severely deteriorating health and barely able to walk, when he came into contact with Telangana Police and expressed his intent to surrender.
Amit Shah meeting fuels speculation
Speculation about Ganapathy’s capture or imminent surrender intensified after Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Director General of Police B Shivadhar Reddy and Special Intelligence Bureau Inspector General B Sumathi were summoned to Delhi on Wednesday, March 4, for a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
At the meeting, the Telangana delegation is reported to have briefed Shah on the recent surrender of top Maoist leaders from Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Reports suggest that it was also at this meeting that Ganapathy’s wish to surrender, along with other Maoist leaders and cadres, was formally conveyed to the Centre.
The Central Intelligence Bureau, according to reports, is currently attempting to establish whether any of Ganapathy’s comrades had accompanied him to Nepal and whether associates remain active in Chhattisgarh.
If the reports hold, Ganapathy’s surrender is expected to be announced first by the Centre, after which he will formally surrender before the Telangana Police, a moment that would, for all practical purposes, mark the organisational end of the CPI (Maoist) in India.
His wife and children have on multiple occasions publicly appealed to him to give up arms and return to mainstream society.
From classroom to jungle: a seven-decade journey
Born in 1949 in Beerpur village in the erstwhile Karimnagar district, Ganapathy was drawn to the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War Group in 1983 while pursuing his Bachelor of Education training in Warangal. He had previously served as a government school teacher before going underground to join the revolutionary movement.
His rise within the organisation came after a falling out with Kondapalli Seetaramaiah, the then general secretary of the party, who was expelled in 1991. Ganapathy was subsequently elevated to the post of general secretary, a position he would hold for nearly three decades.
His tenure witnessed one of the most significant developments in the Maoist movement’s organisational history, such as the merger, during 2006-07, of the CPIML party in West Bengal and the Maoist Communist Centre in Bihar into what became the CPI (Maoist), a consolidation that dramatically expanded the organisation’s reach and cadre strength.
Exit from the movement
Ganapathy continued as general secretary until 2018, when, suffering from serious health ailments, he quietly left India and crossed into Nepal through Bihar. He is reported to have lived across multiple countries since then, including the Philippines and Bangladesh, before settling in Nepal.
His departure coincided with the launch of Operation Kagaar, the Centre’s intensified push to eliminate the Maoist presence in the country.
After Ganapathy stepped down, Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju was elevated to general secretary. Basavaraju was killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district in May 2025.
Rewards and rehabilitation
Ganapathy carries a reward of between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2.5 crore on his head across various states. What he stands to receive under the Telangana government’s rehabilitation package for surrendered Maoists remains to be seen.
For the Centre, his surrender, if confirmed, would represent a significant milestone in its stated objective of achieving a Maoist-free India by March 31, 2026.
| Posted by Vivek Bhoomi | 
