<p>Hyderabad: In a defining moment in India's battle against its decades-long Maoist insurgency, CPI (Maoist) top commander Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji also known as Devu Ji has laid down arms and surrendered to Telangana police.</p><p>Sources in the state's Special Intelligence Wing confirmed to DH that Devji surrendered alongside senior Naxal leader Malla Raji Reddy alias Sangram, Narasimha Reddy alias Ganganna, and 16 other cadres.</p><p>They emerged from the Asifabad forest into plain areas two days ago and the surrender will be formalised and announced publicly in a day or two. Tirupati, considered a "top gun" among Naxals, is viewed as the movement's effective end after over six decades.</p><p>The Centre set a March 31 deadline to eradicate Naxalism through arrests, eliminations, or surrenders under Operation Kagar, launched last year. Tirupati's surrender coincides with thousands of security forces encircling Kareguttalu on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border for Operation Black Forest II, launched days ago amid suspicions he and others were hiding there.</p><p><strong>Who is Tirupati?</strong></p><p>Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji boasts one of the longest and most strategically influential careers in India's Maoist movement, rising from student activist to CPI (Maoist) General Secretary over four decades. Born into a modest Madiga (Dalit) family in Ambedkar Nagar Colony, Korutla town, Jagtial district (erstwhile Karimnagar, Telangana), he finished schooling in Korutla and studied up to Intermediate level. In the early 1980s, while pursuing his degree, he plunged into radical politics.</p><p>“Tirupati's career emphasized a "military-first" strategy, prioritizing guerrilla tactics over pure ideology. He joined the Radical Students’ Union (RSU), student wing of the People's War Group (PWG). After violent clashes with rivals like ABVP, he went underground in late 1983, starting as a dalam squad member in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district. He swiftly advanced to Area Commander, then Divisional Commander. His tactical acumen secured spots on the Central Committee and Central Military Commission (CMC). He helped form the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA),” a former Intelligence Bureau official with over three decades in anti-Naxal operations told DH.</p>.As Amit Shah's deadline nears, security forces ramp up anti-naxal push with focus on 'Big Five'.<p>Tirupati shaped key events, including the 2007 "Unity Congress" and the Geedam police station attack in Chhattisgarh. Security forces peg him as the mastermind of the April 2010 Tadimetla (Dantewada) ambush, killing 76 personnel. After Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju's death in a May 2025 encounter, Tirupati became General Secretary in September 2025 the first Dalit to hold the post.</p><p>He founded the Buniyadi (Fundamental) Communist Training School in 2009 for modern guerrilla training and edited the party's underground journal Awami Jung (People's War) under aliases to rally cadres. “His influence spanned the "Red Corridor," especially Bastar (Chhattisgarh), Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), and Odisha. A pure "military man," he led the CMC for armed operations, commanded Dandakaranya militias, and oversaw South India famously linked to the deadly 2010 Dantewada attack on 76 CRPF jawans,” the former intelligence official told DH.</p><p><strong>Final push</strong></p><p>As Telangana police secure Naxal surrenders ahead of the March 31 deadline, central security forces have launched "Operation Black Forest II" in the Karreguttalu hills straddling Chhattisgarh and Telangana. A prior Black Forest operation in April-May 2025 killed 31 Naxals and yielded arms caches, hailed as the biggest offensive to date.</p><p>Thousands from CRPF, elite CoBRA commandos, District Reserve Guard (DRG), and others now encircle Jella and Tadapala ranges. Dubbed 'KGH 2' or Operation Black Forest II, it targets Devji and junior cadre Kesa Sodhi. About 2,000 CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police troops deployed Tuesday across Nambi and Karreguttalu Hills (KGH).</p>
<p>Hyderabad: In a defining moment in India's battle against its decades-long Maoist insurgency, CPI (Maoist) top commander Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji also known as Devu Ji has laid down arms and surrendered to Telangana police.</p><p>Sources in the state's Special Intelligence Wing confirmed to DH that Devji surrendered alongside senior Naxal leader Malla Raji Reddy alias Sangram, Narasimha Reddy alias Ganganna, and 16 other cadres.</p><p>They emerged from the Asifabad forest into plain areas two days ago and the surrender will be formalised and announced publicly in a day or two. Tirupati, considered a "top gun" among Naxals, is viewed as the movement's effective end after over six decades.</p><p>The Centre set a March 31 deadline to eradicate Naxalism through arrests, eliminations, or surrenders under Operation Kagar, launched last year. Tirupati's surrender coincides with thousands of security forces encircling Kareguttalu on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border for Operation Black Forest II, launched days ago amid suspicions he and others were hiding there.</p><p><strong>Who is Tirupati?</strong></p><p>Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji boasts one of the longest and most strategically influential careers in India's Maoist movement, rising from student activist to CPI (Maoist) General Secretary over four decades. Born into a modest Madiga (Dalit) family in Ambedkar Nagar Colony, Korutla town, Jagtial district (erstwhile Karimnagar, Telangana), he finished schooling in Korutla and studied up to Intermediate level. In the early 1980s, while pursuing his degree, he plunged into radical politics.</p><p>“Tirupati's career emphasized a "military-first" strategy, prioritizing guerrilla tactics over pure ideology. He joined the Radical Students’ Union (RSU), student wing of the People's War Group (PWG). After violent clashes with rivals like ABVP, he went underground in late 1983, starting as a dalam squad member in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district. He swiftly advanced to Area Commander, then Divisional Commander. His tactical acumen secured spots on the Central Committee and Central Military Commission (CMC). He helped form the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA),” a former Intelligence Bureau official with over three decades in anti-Naxal operations told DH.</p>.As Amit Shah's deadline nears, security forces ramp up anti-naxal push with focus on 'Big Five'.<p>Tirupati shaped key events, including the 2007 "Unity Congress" and the Geedam police station attack in Chhattisgarh. Security forces peg him as the mastermind of the April 2010 Tadimetla (Dantewada) ambush, killing 76 personnel. After Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju's death in a May 2025 encounter, Tirupati became General Secretary in September 2025 the first Dalit to hold the post.</p><p>He founded the Buniyadi (Fundamental) Communist Training School in 2009 for modern guerrilla training and edited the party's underground journal Awami Jung (People's War) under aliases to rally cadres. “His influence spanned the "Red Corridor," especially Bastar (Chhattisgarh), Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), and Odisha. A pure "military man," he led the CMC for armed operations, commanded Dandakaranya militias, and oversaw South India famously linked to the deadly 2010 Dantewada attack on 76 CRPF jawans,” the former intelligence official told DH.</p><p><strong>Final push</strong></p><p>As Telangana police secure Naxal surrenders ahead of the March 31 deadline, central security forces have launched "Operation Black Forest II" in the Karreguttalu hills straddling Chhattisgarh and Telangana. A prior Black Forest operation in April-May 2025 killed 31 Naxals and yielded arms caches, hailed as the biggest offensive to date.</p><p>Thousands from CRPF, elite CoBRA commandos, District Reserve Guard (DRG), and others now encircle Jella and Tadapala ranges. Dubbed 'KGH 2' or Operation Black Forest II, it targets Devji and junior cadre Kesa Sodhi. About 2,000 CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police troops deployed Tuesday across Nambi and Karreguttalu Hills (KGH).</p>