7 months ago
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Three elder leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist), Kunkati Venkataiah alias Vikas, Mogilicherla Venkatraju alias Chandu, and Thodem Ganga alias Sony, surrendered earlier the Telangana Police connected Friday, aft decades of being underground.
All three, who were State Committee Members (SCMs) of the CPI (Maoist), were starring cardinal divisions nether the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC). Their surrender took spot successful the beingness of the Director General of Police, Telangana B. Shivadhar Reddy. Each of them carried a reward of ₹20 lakh, which was handed implicit done request drafts arsenic portion of the State’s rehabilitation policy.
According to the DGP, 52-year-old Venkataiah, a autochthonal of Kutigal colony successful Siddipet district, had been underground for 36 years. He roseate done the ranks aft joining the CPI (ML) People’s War Group successful 1990, yet becoming in-charge of the South Bastar Divisional Committee nether the DKSZC. His wife, Kodi Manjula alias Nirmala, besides a elder Maoist leader, had surrendered earlier successful 2024. Police said deteriorating wellness prompted Venkataiah to discontinue the question successful May 2025 and instrumentality to civilian life.
Venkatraju, 45, known by respective aliases including Erra Raju and Chander, hails from Thatikayala colony successful Hanumakonda district. He was underground for 35 years and served arsenic in-charge of the Chetna Natya Manch (CNM) taste helping successful the DKSZC. “Once a people vocalist inspired by revolutionary art, helium joined the People’s War Group successful the aboriginal 1990s and roseate to go a State Committee Member. He decided to surrender citing failing eyesight and increasing ideological differences wrong the Maoist leadership,” said the officer.
Meanwhile, 42-year-old Thodem Ganga alias Sony, from Dharampeta colony successful Sukma territory of Chhattisgarh, was underground for 21 years. “She served arsenic in-charge of the Janathana Sarkar nether the South Bastar Division and held aggregate enactment roles wrong the DKSZC. She near the organisation connected wellness grounds and expressed her privation to unrecorded a peaceful beingness with her husband, Venkatraju,” added the officer.
The DGP besides said that the trio would person rehabilitation benefits arsenic per the government’s policy, including fiscal enactment and assistance to reintegrate into society. Their surrender, the DGP added, represents a motivation triumph for Telangana’s semipermanent argumentation of persuasion and rehabilitation alternatively than confrontation.
The Telangana Police said that successful 2025 alone, 412 underground cadres, including 1 Central Committee Member, 4 State Committee Members, 2 Divisional Committee Secretaries, 8 Divisional Committee Members, and 35 Area Committee Members, person surrendered, influenced by the government’s broad reintegration strategy.
As of now, 72 progressive underground cadres of the CPI (Maoist) are natives of Telangana, portion 8 of the organisation’s 12 Central Committee Members besides hail from the State.
