HYDERABAD: Senior Maoist leader Kakarla Sunitha, wife of deceased Central Committee member TLN Chalam alias Sudhakar, surrendered before the Rachakonda Police Commissionerate on Thursday, ending her 40 years of association with the CPI (Maoist). Along with her, Area Committee member Chennuri Harish also gave up arms.
Rachakonda Commissioner of Police G Sudheer Babu said Sunitha (62), a State Committee member with a `20 lakh reward, and Harish (35), who carried a `4 lakh reward, surrendered under the state government’s rehabilitation scheme. Cheques for the same have been handed over to them.
Sunitha joined the Maoist movement in 1986 while studying in Rajahmundry and later worked in Vijayawada, Guntur, Nallamala, the Andhra-Odisha border, and Dandakaranya. She married Chalam during her underground years and was involved in several encounters. In June, she escaped an exchange of fire in Chhattisgarh in which her husband was killed.
Harish, a native of Bhupalapally, joined the Maoists in 2018, worked with various squads, and became an Area Committee member this year. He too took part in armed exchanges and was injured.
The commissioner said 387 Maoists have so far surrendered in Telangana.