Maharashtra: Mallojula Venugopal, aka 'Bhupathi', among 61 Naxalites to surrender before police

Senior Naxalite Mallojula Venugopal, alias Sonu/Bhupathi, was among the 61 Naxalite cadres that surrendered before the police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, officials said on Tuesday.

The Naxalites turned themselves in to the Maharashtra police late on Monday night, an official said, as per a PTI report, adding that those who surrendered included a member of the central committee, as well as 10 members of a divisional committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).

70-year-old Venugopal was considered one of the most influential Maoist strategists in the organisation, and had long supervised platoon operations along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border, the report added, citing unnamed sources.

More specifically, Bhupathi was a Politburo and Central Military Commission member: he was the ideological head of the party, and a link between the forests of Chhattisgarh and the outside world, an Indian Express report said, citing intelligence sources.

However, differences of opinion between him and the Naxalite top brass in recent months led to internal conflict, the sources added.

While surrendering, Venugopal appealed for a shift towards peace and dialogue, citing diminishing public support and the loss of hundreds of cadres—all of which contributed to the failure of the armed movement.

Other leaders in the organisation, however, reportedly disagreed with him, deciding to continue the fight under another leader.

This led the central Naxal leadership to pressurise him to step down. He eventually agreed to lay down his arms, announced his exit from the Maoist outfit, and surrendered with some of his followers to Maharashtra's Gadchiroli police.

Over the past few months, the Gadchiroli district has seen a steady set of Naxalites surrendering before the police, which includes Bhupathi's wife Tarakka's surrender earlier this year. She was a member of the CPI (Maoist)’s Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee.

India