Hyderabad: Top CPI leader and key ‘strategist’ of the banned outfit, Tiberi Tirupati, also known as Devuji, has claimed that police arrested him and others before they surrendered to Telangana police on February 24.
He pledged to continue fighting for people’s problems within the legal framework.
Devoji, who lived a secret life for more than four decades in the armed struggle, said he and other members did not surrender to the police out of fear of death, but to work for the public carrying their Marxist, Leninist and Maoist ideology within the legal framework.
He said on Friday that he never feared death and if so, he would have surrendered like key Maoist leaders Malugula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu and Ashana alias Satish before the Maharashtra government in October last year.
Police sources had earlier said that Devoji had no plans to leave the Maoist path.
“When Operation Kajjar was going on in full swing, under unavoidable situations, we took shelter in different places to strengthen the party. In those circumstances, Telangana police arrested us. After the arrest, if they wanted, they could have killed us. But what they told us was that killing was not their policy, and they would show surrender. But I was not ready to surrender,” Devijo told Channels TV.
The former Maoist leader denied the idea of them surrendering to the police, and said that they previously used to solve people’s problems secretly, and now they will do the same thing publicly, using legal methods.
Defigo said that he will not abandon the ideology of Marxism, Leninism and Maoism, and it will be the focus of their approach to solving people’s problems in the future. “So it is not correct to say that we have surrendered or joined the mainstream. We are always in contact with thousands of people,” he said.
In response to a query, he said that he is not the Secretary-General of the party, but merely a member of the Central Committee.
If there had been a central committee or political office, there would have been that agenda.”
On February 24, Devoji surrendered before the Telangana police, after more than four decades of secret life.
Besides Devoji, another Central Committee member, Malla Raje Reddy, and two other ultras Baddi Choka Rao @Jagan and Noni Narasimha Reddy @Jangana also laid down their arms.
Devuji is a native of Korotla town, Jagtial district in Telangana. His father, Venkata Narsayah, was a farmer. He joined CPI People’s War in January 1982 and worked mostly in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
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