PEDDAPALLI: Mallojula Venugopal Rao (69), also known as Bhoopati or Sonu, spokesperson of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its Central Committee member has surrendered before the Gadchiroli police in Maharashtra.
His surrender has brought Peddapalli, his native town, back into the national spotlight more than a decade after the death of his brother Mallojula Koteshwar Rao, alias Kishanji, in an encounter in West Bengal in 2011.
Family members expressed happiness over his decision to join the social mainstream. However, his mother Madhuramma, who had long awaited his return, passed away in 2022.
Venugopal was born into a poor family of freedom fighters and temple priests in Peddapalli. A graduate, he left home after being drawn to left-wing extremism, following the ideological path of his elder brother. Rising through the ranks, he became chief of the Maoist Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee and was tasked with creating a new guerrilla zone stretching from Goa to Idukki in Kerala.
After the death of Cherukuri Raj Kumar (Azad), Venugopal was appointed the Maoist party’s official spokesperson. He is suspected of being one of the masterminds behind the April 2010 Dantewada attack in Chhattisgarh, in which at least 76 CRPF personnel were killed.
His surrender follows weeks after he offered a ceasefire and called for peace talks with the government. The move comes at a time when the Maoist movement has weakened due to sustained operations by central and state forces, resulting in the deaths of several senior Maoist leaders this year.
The CPI (Maoist) leadership reportedly opposed his decision and branded him a traitor, ordering him to surrender his weapons to the party. It also warned that the People’s Guerrilla Army would seize them if he failed to comply.
Earlier this year, Venugopal’s wife Tarakka alias Vimala Seedam, a member of the Maoist Zonal Committee, also surrendered before then Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A reward of `25 lakh had been announced for Venugopal’s capture by Karimnagar police in 2014. Reports indicate he carried a total bounty of about `6 crore across various states before his surrender.
Family welcomes move
Mallojula Dileep, son of Venugopal’s brother Anjaneyulu, said the family was overjoyed by his uncle’s decision.
“He stayed away from us for a very long time, working for his ideology. My grandmother Madhuramma waited years for his return but passed away in 2022. His surrender is a deeply emotional moment for our family,” Dileep told reporters in Peddapalli.
