As many as 170 Maoists have surrendered in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, with sources saying that key leaders, including the man known as the “bombmaker”, were among them.
They are set to formally surrender before Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishu Deo Sai on Friday, the sources said.
Takkalappalli Vasudeva Rao, alias Rupesh, 59, who is known as the Maoists’ bombmaker, was last known to have been operating from the Abujhmad area of Chhattisgarh. Along with him, the surrendered rebels included Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee’s (DKZC) Maad division in-charge, Ranita.
Rupesh, who is from Mugulu in Telangana, is believed to have orchestrated the attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on December 2, 2000. He also believed to have been involved in the killings of then Andhra Pradesh home minister A Madhav Reddy and young IPS officer Umesh Chandra in 1999.
Chhattisgarh police sources said Rupesh had been elevated to the Central Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist), but according to intelligence sources, he had not yet taken up the post. “He is surrendering even before attending any CC meeting,” an intelligence source said.
This comes just two days after the surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Sonu alias Abhay alias Bhupati, who was a member of the CPI (Maoist)’s Politburo and was known as the ideological head of the party. Before his surrender, Sonu had written a letter to authorities with the offer that Maoists could give up “the armed struggle” to “save the party”, and said that Rupesh was with him.
According to intelligence sources in Telangana, Rupesh was a supporter of Sonu. “There is enough (information) to say that they were in touch with each other before deciding to give up arms,” a Telangana intelligence official told The Indian Express.
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Taking to X, Union Home Minister Amit Shah wrote, “Today, 170 Naxalites have surrendered in Chhattisgarh. Yesterday, 27 had laid down their arms in the state. In Maharashtra, 61 returned to the mainstream… In total, 258 battle-hardened left-wing extremists have abjured violence in the last two days.”
“I applaud their decision to renounce violence, reposing their trust in the Constitution of India. It attests to the fact that Naxalism is breathing its last due to the relentless efforts of the PM Narendra Modi-led government to end the menace. Our policy is clear — those who want to surrender are welcome, and those who continue to wield the gun will meet the wrath of our forces… We are committed to uprooting Naxalism before 31st March 2026,” he said.
He also said that Chhattisgarh’s Abujhmad and North Bastar, “which were once terror bases, have today been declared as free from Naxal terror. Now a trace of Naxalism exists in South Bastar, which will be wiped out soon by our security forces.”
Shah wrote that since the BJP government was formed in Chhattisgarh, 2,100 Maoists have surrendered, 1,785 have been arrested, and 477 have been killed. “These numbers mirror our fierce resolve to decimate Naxalism before the 31st of March 2026,” the Home Minister said.
