Top woman Naxal leader surrenders in Hyderabad after being underground for 43 years

Hyderabad: Top Naxal leader Pothula Padmavathi, alias Sujatha, 62, who had been underground for 43 years, surrendered to police in the presence of Telangana DGP Dr Jitender on Saturday in Hyderabad. Sujatha serves as a Central Committee Member (CCM) of the CPI (Maoist) party and is the only woman member on the party's Central Committee.

She carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakhs, which will now be awarded to her upon surrender. Her husband, Kishenji, who served as both a CCM and head of the West Bengal committee, was killed in an encounter in 2011.

Sujatha is a native of Penchikalpadu village in Gattu Mandal, Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana. Her father, Thimma Reddy, came from an agricultural family that owned considerable farmland and also served as the village Postmaster. Her elder brother, Pothula Srinivas Reddy, briefly worked with the CPI (ML) People's War Group for about two months in 1982.

She was married to Mallojula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji, a senior Maoist leader who served as Central Committee Member and Secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of CPI (Maoist). He was killed in an exchange of fire with police near the Bengal-Jharkhand border in West Midnapore district, West Bengal, on November 24, 2011. The couple had one daughter.

While pursuing her second-year Intermediate studies at Government Junior College, Gadwal, Sujatha was influenced by Marxist-Leninist ideology through her cousins Patel Sudhakar Reddy alias Suryam, who was also a CCM and died in 2009 during an exchange of fire, and Pothula Sudershan Reddy alias RK. Inspired by their ideology, she joined the CPI (ML) People's War Group in December 1982.

"In May 2025, due to deteriorating health, Sujatha expressed her desire to leave the CPI (Maoist). Through Pulluri Prasada Rao alias Chandranna, a former CCM, she formally communicated her request to the Central Committee, stating her wish to leave the organization on health grounds and rejoin the mainstream with government support. Her decision reflects a personal need to prioritize her well-being after decades of underground life. She expressed her intention to lead a normal life, take care of her health, and live peacefully with her family by availing herself of the rehabilitation measures extended by the government," said Jitender.

The return of this senior Maoist leader and Central Committee Member to mainstream society after 43 years underground is regarded as a moral victory for the holistic and comprehensive policy adopted by Telangana Police against the CPI (Maoist), he added.

Jitender also noted that, inspired by the holistic and comprehensive strategy of Telangana Police toward underground cadres of the CPI (Maoist), a total of 404 underground cadres—including 4 State Committee Members (SCMs), 1 Divisional Committee Secretary (DVCS), 8 Divisional Committee Members (DVCMs), and 34 Area Committee Members (ACMs)—have chosen to renounce armed struggle and embrace a peaceful life with their families, surrendering before Telangana Police in 2025 alone.

As of today, a total of 78 underground cadres of the CPI (Maoist) are natives of Telangana state. Out of the 15 CCMs nationwide, 10 are natives of Telangana.

He added that if underground Maoists return to their native places and join the mainstream, the Telangana Government will extend all benefits, including immediate relief with suitable financial assistance and other support measures under its rehabilitation schemes, to help them lead independent and dignified lives.