Hyderabad: Two senior Maoist leaders, including a key strategist, surrendered before Telangana police on Sunday, in a major blow to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), officials familiar with the developments said.
Party general secretary Tiberi Tirupati alias Devji, 60 and Politburo central committee member Malla Raje Reddy alias Sangram, 76, along with 16 other party members surrendered before the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) of Telangana police in Komaram-Bhim Asifabad area in the early hours of Sunday, they said.
“A formal announcement will be made in just a day or two after the surrender process is formalized and the Maoist leaders are likely to be paraded before the media in the presence of Director General of Police P Shivadhar Reddy or Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy,” the official said.
Over the past year, there have been a record number of surrenders; 2,793 cadres surrendered across the country (1,590 in Bastar alone) as the government launched a massive crackdown to eliminate left-wing extremism in the country. To put that in context, there were 1,040 surrenders in 2025, 881 in 2024, 376 in 2023, and 496 in 2022.
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According to reports, Devji, Raji Reddy and other Maoists have been sending sensors to the Telangana Police for the past two days, after security forces launched a large-scale operation in Karijuttalu Hills on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border.
“The SIB has intensified pressure on the Maoist party leaders through their families, friends and acquaintances to either surrender or face encounters with the police. Last week, I made an open appeal to the leaders to surrender and join the mainstream, so that they can lead a respectable life in the society,” the Telangana police official said.
Federal Home Minister Amit Shah had said on Saturday that the campaign to rid the country of the Maoist insurgency is on track and will end by the end of March this year.
“I cannot even imagine how this huge and historic mission with enormous challenges is coming to an end in just three years. Building on the impressive work done by the CRPF, I want to assure the nation that the Maoist insurgency will be completely eradicated by March 31,” Shah said.
Devji was one of the most wanted leaders of the Central Committee of the Maoist Party who continued his activity even after the killing and surrender of several senior leaders of the CPI (Maoist). Devji was wanted by police in several states and received a combined reward of $2.5 crores on his head.
Hailing from Ambedkar Nagar in Korutla town in Jagtial (formerly Karimnagar) district of Telangana, Devji belongs to a Dalit (Mala) family. He joined the People’s War group CPI(ML) in 1983 and gradually rose through the ranks to become one of the organisation’s top strategists.
Security agencies have linked Devji to several major Maoist attacks and are believed to have played a central role in planning high-profile operations, including the 2010 Dantewada ambush in Chhattisgarh in which 74 CRPF personnel were killed, as well as earlier attacks in Tadmitla, Rani Budli and other areas.
Known by several pseudonyms within the party – including Sanjeev, Chetan, Ramesh, Sudharshan, and Devana – he has held key positions as Central Committee and Politburo member, and served in the Central Military Commission, where he directed the CPI(M)’s military strategy, particularly in the Central Regional Office and the South India region.
Veteran rebel leader
Malla Raje Reddy, also known as Sangram, was also a veteran of the Maoist movement, and carries a bounty of Rs $1 crore on his head.
Known by several aliases including Sathenna, Sayanna, Meesalanna, Sagar, Alok, Deshpande, SN, Laxman and Murali, he hails from Sathharajpalli village in Mutharam mandal in Peddapalli district.
He joined the Naxalite movement in 1975 and held key positions in the organization.
