Naxal Commander Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupati on Wednesday surrendered in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Gadchiroli Police Headquarters.
Bhupati was one of the influential strategists of Naxalite activities and was a member of the Central Committee and the Politburo. He had led aggressive anti-Naxal operations in both Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra and a bounty of Rs 6 crore was on his head.
Mass surrender deals blow to Naxalism
Besides Bhupati, 61 other Naxalites surrendered, marking a major blow to the insurgent group.
The Naxalites symbolically handed over their rifles to CM Fadnavis, completing the formalities of surrender. During the event, the Chief Minister presented them with copies of the Indian Constitution. By laying down their arms, the Naxalites pledged allegiance to the Constitution.
"Today is an important day for Gadchiroli district. The process of eliminating Maoism from Gadchiroli began today. Gadchiroli district has been battling Maoism for over 40 years. Chandrapur, Bhandara, and Gondia were also initially affected by Maoism. Chhattisgarh and Telangana, bordering Maharashtra, were also plagued by Naxalism. Development was devoid of development. Young people were misled by the system. Sonu alias Bhupati's surrender is significant because 40 years ago, a new group, the Aheri Sironcha, was started in Gadchiroli. Bhupati was the one who initiated it, providing intellectual support and logistics," Fadnavis said.
Family members’ earlier surrenders influenced Bhupati
Earlier, in January, Bhupati’s wife, Vimla Sidam, also known as Tarakka, had surrendered in the presence of the Chief Minister. Last month, Bhupati’s sister-in-law, Padmavati, also known as Sujata, had surrendered by laying down her arms before Telangana police. These events had a severe mental impact on Bhupati, which became a major reason for his surrender.
Bhupati’s letter citing failure of armed struggle
A few days before his surrender, Bhupati issued a letter stating that the continuous loss of comrades, intensified operations by security forces and the deaths of fellow Naxalites had clearly shown that the path of struggle had failed. He declared that it was appropriate to leave arms behind and adopt the path of dialogue.
