How a selfie with wife turned fatal for top Maoist leader Chalapathi

In a major boost for security forces, top Maoist leader Ramachandra Reddy, better known as Chalapathi, was on January 21 killed during a gunfight along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. Mastermind of the February 2008 Odisha Maoist attack in which 13 security personnel were killed, he was primarily active in Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

A senior officer involved in anti-Naxal operations said, "Though Ramakrishna, a top Maoist leader who is now dead, masterminded the attack of February 15, 2008, it was Chalapathi who executed it on the ground. He was also the person who ensured that the Maoists could successfully escape from Nayagarh town after robbing the police armoury".

Chalapathi ensured that police reinforcements could not enter Odisha's Nayagarh when the attack on the armoury was underway, he said, adding that the Maoists had blocked all roads leading to the town with massive tree trunks.

Chalapathi was killed along with 13 other Maoists in an intense encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district. One among the top seven in CPI(Maoist) ranks, he was always careful in his movements and remained a mystery for decades. But his luck ran out after the security forces came across a selfie with his wife Aruna alias Chaitanya Venkat Ravi, a 'deputy commander' of the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee.

Hailing from Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district, where Maoist activities have ended now, Chalapathi in his early years joined the banned People's War Group (PWG), which was wreaking havoc in some southern states. Over the last few years, he had been staying in Darabha in Chhattishgarh's Bastar district as he couldn't travel much due to problems with his knees.

Though he did not attain formal education, he was a voracious reader, fluent in Telugu, Hindi, English and Odia. According to officials, Chalapathi - who was in mid-60s - was considered an expert in military tactics and guerrilla warfare, officials said.

After the CPI(Maoist) was formed in 2004 with the merger of multiple underground Communist groups, including PWG, he started rising through the ranks, and became a member of the outfit's central committee, they said. It was Chalapathi who set up Maoist operations in Odisha's backward Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts, expanding the network.

On how the forces were successful in finally tracking the top Maoist leader, officials said, "He was a mystery for the security agencies but a selfie with Aruna led to his identification and a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head. This selfie of the couple was found in an abandoned smartphone that was recovered in May 2016 following a gunfight between Maoists and security forces in Andhra Pradesh. This also restricted his movement, and forced him to travel with a dozen cadres guarding him".