Top Naxal Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu surrenders with 60 cadres

Malloujula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu laid down weapons along with 60 Maoist cadres today in Maharashtra’s Gadhchiroli

Senior CPI (Maoist) leader and part of the Politburo, Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu on Tuesday surrendered along with 60 Maoist cadres in Maharashtra’s Gadhchiroli in a big blow for the cornered outfit.

There were reports doing rounds last week that Sonu, a native of Telangana, had quit from the party. In a letter, he had called upon cadres to “save themselves" and not make “meaningless sacrifices", bringing to the fore the rift within Maoists over giving up arms and joining the mainstream, according to a report by CNN-News18.

Sonu, in his letter, is said to have confessed to his comrades that he could no longer sustain the armed movement given the present realities. Calling the Maoists’ chosen path “completely wrong,” he apologised for not being able to stem the organisation’s decline and blamed recurring leadership mistakes for its major reverses.

He reportedly received support from the North sub-Zonal and West sub-Zonal Bureau of CPI (Maoist), who expressed willingess to follow his call and join the mainstream.

According to police, Venugopal issued an oral and also written statement on August 15 claiming they were ready for a ceasefire. He issued another statement reportedly in September stating that it (laying down arms) was discussed in the central committee and politburo and decided accordingly even before Basavaraju was killed (by security forces in Chhattisgarh on May 21).

The move is seen by Indian security officials as the outcome of continuous campaigns spearheaded by Home Minister Amit Shah in coordination with state governments, targeting the eradication of Naxalism by 2026.

Telangana Director General of Police B Shivadhar Reddy on October 1 urged the members of the outlawed CPI (Maoists) to surrender, according to Telangana Police Intelligence sources cited by PTI.

The DGP had said the police will be sympathetic towards them and that there will be no harassment from their side. “If they want to come out of the Maoist organisation, we welcome,” the sources further said.