Hyderabad: After the surrender of top Maoist leader Tiberi Thirupathi, alias Devoji, the banned outfit is “headless and almost in a state of disrepair,” Telangana Director General of Police P Shivadhar Reddy said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters here after the surrender of Devoji, a native of Telangana, and three other senior members of the banned organization before him, Reddy said the Naxal movement, which has gained momentum in Telangana, is “coming to the end of its run” in the state.
When asked who is leading the CPI, the DPP said: “No one is leading the party; it is almost in tatters. Devoji was expected to become general secretary, but the surrendered Maoists revealed that the central committee meeting could not be held due to severe repression.”
“Since the meeting could not be held, no one was chosen as general secretary. As of today, the Maoist party is headless, rudderless and leaderless,” he added.
Devoji is believed to have taken over as general secretary of the CPI(M) after the killing of Nampala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, by security forces in Chhattisgarh in May 2025, who had held the post earlier.
Responding to a query about when the Maoist movement is expected to end in Telangana, he said 11 state cadres were still underground, including Moppala Laxman Rao, popularly known as Ganapathi.
He said that except Ganapathi, only one or two of the remaining 10 cadres were active.
Reddy said the Telangana Police have already urged all remaining underground CPI cadres to lay down arms and join the mainstream.
“There is nothing left in the CPI(M) and nothing left in the movement. The movement, which has gained momentum in Telangana, has almost reached the end of its march. I again appeal to them to come out and surrender,” he reiterated.
When asked about Ganapathi’s expected surrender, the DGP said, as per available information, Ganapathi is not in the forest area and may be somewhere in a town or other location.
He added that Telangana Police is trying to establish contact with people close to Ganapathy and expressed hope that he will also come out and join the mainstream.
On the Centre’s anti-Maoist campaign ‘Operation Kajjar’, Reddy said that in Telangana, a ‘soft’ operation was launched by the state government and police.
He added that the “soft” approach yields better results, as MLAs and Central Committee members surrender to the Maoists in large numbers.
Reddy had earlier said that over the past two years, 588 Maoist leaders and cadres at various levels have returned to normalcy through the sustained efforts of the Telangana Police.
The DGP further said that the surrender of Devoji and other senior Maoist cadres did not take place within a week or 10 days, as the police had been following leads and establishing contacts for over a year.
“Naturally, they have their own fears and inhibitions. We had to break those fears and make them understand that the government is not as bad as they think. And so they came out,” Reddy said.
Asked about speculation about Maoists regrouping in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, the Telangana police chief said there was no regrouping as far as he knew. Cadres may move from one area to another to escape police sweeping operations.
The DGP reiterated Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s call to all remaining underground CPI cadres, especially the 11 from Telangana, to renounce violence, return to their native villages and towns, reunite with their families, and contribute constructively to the development of the state.
Devoji and another Central Committee member, Malla Raje Reddy, who also surrendered, carry cash rewards worth $25 lakh each.
Telangana State Committee members – Baddi Chuka Rao and Noni Narsimha Reddy – who joined the mainstream carry cash bonuses worth $20 lakh each.
Total Eligible Bonus $90 lakh was disbursed to them under the relief and rehabilitation policy of the state and the Center through demand bills or cheques, a police statement said.
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