Hyderabad: In what is being considered a major success for Telengana’s efforts to make Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres return to the mainstream, 37 of them laid down arms before the state’s director general of police B Shivadhar Reddy on Saturday.
The surrendered Maoists include three Telangana state committee members. The DGP called this one of the largest coordinated surrenders of the CPI (Maoist) leaders and cadres in recent months.
According to the authorities, the surrendered Maoists include state committee members Koyyada Sambaiah alias Azad, Appasi Narayana alias Ramesh, and Muchaki Somada alias Erra. Each of them carried a bounty of Rs 20 lakh.
“They have been underground for the last three decades,” Reddy said.
The other 34 cadres are from Chhattisgarh and include three divisional committee members, nine area committee members, and 22 squad members.
“Of the total 37 Maoists who surrendered, 25 are women and the remaining men,” the DGP added.
The Maoists also handed over an AK-47 assault rifle, four .303 rifles, a G-3 rifle, two Self Loading Rifles and ammunition.
The latest surrender marks a significant operational success in weakening Maoist firepower in the region, Reddy said.
“The cadres responded to an appeal issued by chief minister A Revanth Reddy during the Police Martyrs’ Day event on October 21, urging Maoists to return to the mainstream,” he said.
He said Rs 1.41 crore in reward money was being distributed among the 37 individuals in accordance with the surrender policy. Each of the 37 surrendered cadres also received Rs 25,000 as immediate assistance.
“Those from Telangana will also be eligible for the state government’s comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement package,” the DGP said.
Reddy said that 59 more Maoists from Telangana, including five central committee members — Muppalla Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathy, Malla Raji Reddy alias Sangram, Thippiri Tirupati alias Devji, Paka Hanumanthu alias Uike Ganesh and Bade Chokkarao alias Damodar — continue to remain at large.
Ten Telangana state committee members are also in hiding.
“We appeal to all of them to surrender at the earliest and rejoin society,” the DGP said.
