Top Maoist leader Devuji surrenders after 40 years underground

After four decades underground, top Maoist commander Thippiri Tirupati, known as Devuji, has surrendered to Telangana police, signaling a major development in the fight against Naxalism in India.

Top Maoist commander and the key "strategist" of the banned CPI-Maoist outfit, Thippiri Tirupati, also known as Devuji, surrendered before the Telangana police on Tuesday, after spending over four decades of underground life, police said.

Devuji, a key Central Committee member of the proscribed organisation and the politburo member of the Maoist party, along with another central committee member Malla Raji Reddy, formally surrendered in the presence of state DGP B Shivadhar Reddy.

Besides Devji and Raji Reddy, two other ultras -- Bade Chokka Rao @ Jagan and Nune Narasimha Reddy @ Ganganna also laid down their arms, Reddy said.

The DGP said Devuji was supposed to be elected as Secretary of the CPI-Maoist in a Central Committee meeting of the party's politburo, which never took place.

Replying to the query, Devuji said he surrendered due to health issues and vowed to continue his political career within "legal framework".

"Due to health reasons, I have decided to give up my underground life and join the mainstream, not for my personal life. I have decided to work on people's problems within the legal framework. That means I will continue my political life. I will take the decades of the philosophy which I believed in, as guidance to work henceforth," he said.

Devuji's Background and Early Activism

Devuji is a native of Korutla town, Jagtial district. His father Venkata Narsaiah was a farmer. He has an elder sister Leela and two younger brothers (Gangadhar, Venkat).

Devuji, married Arike Jaini @ Srujana in January 1991. She was a party member in Perimeli Dalam when she married Devuji. She was elevated to the rank of Regional Committee Member (RCM) and died in 2020 in an "exchange of fire" in Kasansur forest area of Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra.

After completing his early education in private and government schools, he moved to Korutla for his intermediate studies. There, he was drawn into the fold of radical activism and joined the Radical Students' Union (RSU).

He was the president of RSU Korutla Town and then Karimnagar district. He spent years studying revolutionary ideologies before formally joining CPI-ML people's war.

His commitment was deeply influenced by Jagitial Jaitra Yatra and various grassroot agitations led by the CPI (ML) People's War Group.

He was elevated as the Central Committee Member in 2001, and was made in charge of CMC in 2016, the police had earlier said.