In a major development in the fight against Maoists, a senior leader and wife of Maoist commander Kishenji - who was killed in 2011 - has surrendered before the Telangana Police.
Pothula Padmavathi, 62, who is also known as Kalpana, had been underground since 1982 and carried a reward of Rs 1 crore. She held key posts, including south sub-zonal bureau secretary and in charge of the Janathana Sarkar (people's government) in the Dandakaranya special zonal committee. She was also a member of the Central Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist).
Padmavathi surrendered before Telangana Director General of Police Jitender in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Born in an agricultural family in the Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana, she married Mallojula Koteswara Rao aka Kishenji, a senior Maoist leader who was a Central Committee member and secretary of the West Bengal state committee of CPI (Maoist). He died in an exchange of fire with security forces near the Bengal-Jharkhand border in West Midnapore district on November 24, 2011.
Inspired by her cousins to join the Maoists, Padmavathi was wanted in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Odisha and carried a reward of Rs 1 crore.
The Telangana Police termed her surrender a "moral victory" and noted that 404 Maoist cadres have surrendered in 2025 alone.
In an appeal to the remaining Maoists, DGP Jitender said, "Lay down arms, return to your villages, and join the progress of Telangana."
