Two senior Maoist leaders surrender in Telangana

Pulluri Prasad Rao, known by the aliases Shankaranna and Chandranna, who had been underground for 45 years, is one of the senior leaders to have surrendered.

Hyderabad: In another major setback to the Maoist movement, two senior leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist) surrendered before Telangana DGP B Shivadhar Reddy on Tuesday.

Among them is Central Committee Member (CCM) Pulluri Prasad Rao, known by the aliases Shankaranna and Chandranna, who had been underground for 45 years.

Alongside him, another senior Maoist leader Bandi Prakash, who remained underground for over four decades, also surrendered. Prasad carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakh, while Prakash had a reward of Rs 20 lakh on his head.

Prakash served as organiser of the National Park Area in Chhattisgarh, a strategically important position within the Maoist network.

The CPI (Maoist) Central Committee, along with its Politburo, functions as the highest decision-making body of the banned outfit. Following the launch of Operation Kagar, the strength of the Central Committee has sharply declined from over 20 senior leaders to fewer than ten. Prasad’s surrender follows that of Mallojula Venugopal Rao, another top Maoist leader, who along with sixty armed cadres laid down arms in Maharashtra a few days ago before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Prasad Rao, 64, a native of Vadkapur village in Julapally mandal of Peddapally district, is a senior Central Committee member who had been guiding the Telangana State Committee (TSC) of the CPI (Maoist). He was married to Kursangi Mothibai, alias Radhakka, a Divisional Committee Member, in 1989. Radhakka was arrested in 2013 in Palvoncha, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, and released from prison in 2015. She currently resides in her native village in Adilabad district.

Citing deteriorating health, chronic knee ailments, sustained pressure from security forces, ideological differences, and internal rifts within the CPI (Maoist), Prasad Rao chose to renounce the movement and join the mainstream under government facilitation.

Bandi Prakash, alias Prabhath, 55, a native of Mandamarri in Mancherial district, served as a State Committee Member (SCM) and headed the TSC Press Team and Singareni Coal Belt Committee (SCBC).

“The return of two of the most senior Maoist leaders to mainstream society after over four decades underground marks a moral victory for the holistic and comprehensive policy adopted by the Telangana Police against the CPI (Maoist),” said DGP Shivadhar Reddy.

He added that Maoist cadres returning to their native places and choosing to rejoin society would be extended all benefits under the state’s rehabilitation policy, including immediate financial relief and support measures to lead independent and dignified lives.

Reiterating the state’s stand, the DGP assured that all underground CPI (Maoist) members who surrender will receive full support, protection, and assistance under Telangana’s comprehensive rehabilitation and reintegration programme, helping them rebuild their lives peacefully and meaningfully.