Top CPI ( Maoist) party leader surrenders before Telangana DGP after 43 years underground

Senior Maoist leader Sujatha (Pothula Padmavathi), in the movement for 43 years, surrendered to Telangana police citing health reasons. A Central Committee member and widow of slain Maoist Kishanji, she received Rs 25 lakh under the rehabilitation scheme

Hyderabad: A top leader of CPI (Maoist), Pothula Padmavathi, also known as Kalpana, Mynakka, Mainabai and Sujatha, surrendered before the Director General of Police, Telangana, on Saturday.

Sujatha, a Central Committee Member (CCM), Secretariat Member, South Sub-Zonal Bureau Secretary and in-charge of Janathana Sarkar, the Maoists’ parallel governance system under the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, aged 62 years, was associated with the movement for the last 43 years.

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Hailing from Jogulamba Gadwal, she was married to senior Maoist leader Mallojula Koteshwar Rao, also known as Kishanji, who served as Central Committee Member and Secretary of the West Bengal State Committee. Kishanji was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in West Midnapore, West Bengal, in November 2011. The couple has one daughter.

Director General of Police, Dr Jitender, said Sujatha entered the movement in December 1982 while studying Intermediate at Government Junior College, Gadwal. She was influenced by her cousins, Patel Sudhakar Reddy, Pothula Sudershan Reddy and Suguna.

She worked with the group in multiple States until May 2025 and then, citing health, requested to leave the organisation. She expressed her wish to live peacefully with her family and avail rehabilitation benefits. She carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh, which has now been given to her through a demand draft.

The DGP appealed to remaining underground cadres to return to their native places and join the mainstream, assuring them of immediate relief and support measures under the rehabilitation scheme to live with dignity and independence.

So far in 2025, 404 underground cadres have surrendered, including four State Committee Members, one Divisional Committee Secretary, eight Divisional Committee Members and 34 Area Committee Members. Of the 15 Central Committee Members of CPI (Maoist), ten are natives of Telangana.