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Hyderabad: Maoist central committee member Pulluri Prasad Rao alias Shankaranna and Telangana committee member Bandi Prakash alias Prakash alias Prabhat surrendered before Director General of Police (DGP) B. Shivadhar Reddy here on Tuesday, further depleting the extremists’ leadership ranks.Shivadhar Reddy said that the two leaders decided to join the mainstream after decades underground. Prasad Rao, 62, has been associated with the Maoists for 45 years, while Prakash, 43, has served as a key organiser in the Singareni coal belt region. Prasad Rao carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh and Prakash Rs 20 lakh, both handed over through demand drafts. They will also receive benefits under the Telangana government’s rehabilitation policy for surrendered cadres. Prasad Rao, a native of Vadkapur in Julapally mandal of Peddapalli district, guided the Maoists’ Telangana committee. The son of a government school headmaster, he married Kursangi Mothibai alias Radhakka, a Maoist divisional committee member, in 1989. Radhakka was arrested in 2013 in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district and released in 2015; she now lives in her native village in Adilabad. After completing Intermediate in 1980, Prasad began working as a courier for Mallojula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, then Karimnagar district secretary of the CPI (ML) KS group. In 1983, he was promoted as commander of the Sirpur dalam and in 1992 became a divisional committee member and then rose through the ranks. He was elevated to central committee member along with Modem Balakrishna alias Manoj and Pratap Reddy Ramachandra Reddy alias Chalapathi. DGP Shivadhar Reddy said Prasad Rao cited deteriorating health, chronic knee problems, sustained police pressure, ideological rifts and internal divisions within the Maoist ranks. His decision, the DGP said, was also a positive response to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s October 21 appeal urging Maoists to join the mainstream and take part in Telangana’s development. Prakash, 43, a native of Mandamarri in Mancherial district, is the son of Rama Rao, a Singareni Collieries employee. Prakash’s wife, Hemadurga alias Maheshwari alias Jhansi, joined the Maoists in 2005 but surrendered six months later. The DGP described their surrender as a “moral victory” for the Telangana police’s holistic strategy. The success of this approach had encouraged 427 underground cadres to surrender in 2025. These include two members of the central committee, eight of the state committee, two divisional committee secretaries, eight divisional committee members and 35 area committee members. - The Maoists have suffered serious damage to their leadership structure. - Since January 2024, eight Maoist central committee have surrendered and another eight have been killed in encounters, said Gaddam Laxman, TG Civil Liberties Committee president. - Police said seven central committee members were still underground: Muppala Laxman Rao, newly appointed general secretary Thippili Tirupathi, Paka Hanumanthulu, Misir Besra, Anal Da, Madavi Hidma and Majjidev. - As of now, 64 Maoist underground cadres are natives of Telangana, including five central committee members. - Only a handful are currently active in Telangana, with the rest operating from other states such as Chhattisgarh.
