37 Maoists, Including Senior Leaders And Young Women, Surrender In Telangana

The Maoist movement suffered a significant organisational setback on Saturday as 37 of its underground cadre, including top state committee members and a large contingent of young women, surrendered before the Telangana Director General of Police B Shivadhar Reddy in Hyderabad.

The mass surrender, among the largest in a single day this year, highlights the increasing pressure on the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), marking a strategic victory for the state's intelligence-led operations and rehabilitation policies. 

The surrendered cadres also handed over a substantial cache of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle, two SLRs, four .303 rifles, and one G3 rifle, along with 343 live rounds of ammunition.

Among the key figures who surrendered were Koyyada Sambaiah alias Azad, 49, and Appasi Narayana alias Ramesh, both of whom were members of the Telangana State Committee of the CPI (Maoist), and Muchaki Somada alias Erra, who was part of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. 

Azad, who has spent approximately three decades in the movement, represents the old guard, which has been part of the organisation's extremist core since the 1990s.

The group also included 25 women, many of whom are in their early 20s and cited disillusionment with the ideology, physical exhaustion, and a desire to avail themselves of the government's welfare and rehabilitation schemes as key reasons for quitting the armed struggle. 

The surrender comes in the wake of relentless pressure from security forces and follows recent major encounters in the Dandakaranya and South Bastar regions. 

In a recent crackdown,  the Andhra Pradesh police arrested 50 CPI (Maoist) operatives following an exchange of fire in Maredumilli, which resulted in the elimination of Central Committee member Madvi Hidma and IED expert Meturi Jokha Rao aka Tech Shankar, among others. 

Welcoming the surrenders and announcing rehabilitation support, Telangana Director General of Police Reddy said the force is focused on tackling the remaining Maoists 

"There are still 64 Maoists hailing from Telangana, who have not laid down their weapons. Of these, nine are believed to be active in the state," he said.