Telangana Maoist Exodus: 41 Rebels, Including 4 State Chiefs, Surrender Firearms and Give Up on Insurgency

Image Source: Internet

In a significant blow to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), 41 members, including six senior leaders and four Telangana state committee members, have surrendered to the authorities. The development comes after Telangana's Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's government launched a surrender drive, encouraging Maoist cadres to leave the organization and reintegrate into mainstream society. Telangana's DGP B Shivadhar Reddy revealed that the surrendered Maoists, who included notorious figures such as Erragolla Ravi alias Santhosh and Kanikarapu Prabhanjan, had been operating for decades in the state. The rebels handed over 24 firearms, 733 live rounds of ammunition, and eight BGL shells to the authorities. According to Reddy, the reasons behind the Maoists' surrender are multifaceted. The party's leadership has been deploying cadres to unfamiliar areas without their consent, causing frustration and hardship among the rank and file. Internal rifts, factionalism, and leadership disputes within the CPI (Maoist) have also taken a toll on the organization. The surrendered Maoists, whose combined reward value was ₹1.46 crore, will receive interim relief of ₹25,000 each. Additional benefits will be extended under the state's rehabilitation and reintegration policy. This year alone, a total of 509 Maoist cadres, including two central committee members, have surrendered to the Telangana police. The development is seen as a significant victory for the security forces, who have been working tirelessly to dismantle the CPI (Maoist) network in the region.