Maoist Leader Pothula Padmavati Surrenders In Telangana After Four Decades

Senior CPI (Maoist) leader and Central Committee member Pothula Padmavati, 62, surrendered before the Telangana police on Saturday after more than four decades underground. She cited deteriorating health and a wish to return to the mainstream as reasons for her decision.

Padmavati, also known as Sujatha, is the widow of Mallojula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji, a Central Committee member and former West Bengal State Secretary of CPI (Maoist), who was killed in an exchange of fire with police in West Midnapore in 2011. The couple has one daughter.

Telangana Director General of Police Jitender told reporters that Padmavati chose to come out of the organisation in view of government policies and support. A police release said she had been underground for 43 years, serving in several roles including in-charge of the ‘Janathana Sarkar’ under the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee in Chhattisgarh. She was elevated to the Central Committee in 2023.

According to PTI, Padmavati formally sought release from the party in May 2025 through fellow Central Committee member Pulluri Prasada Rao. The request was made on health grounds, with the release noting her need to prioritise well-being after decades of underground activity.

A native of Jogulamba Gadwal district, Padmavati was drawn to Marxist-Leninist ideology during her college years through her cousins, including Patel Sudhakar Reddy, a senior Maoist leader killed in 2009. She began as a village campaigner with the Radical Students Union and later joined the cultural troupe Jana Natya Mandali, where she briefly worked with the late folk singer Gaddar. She married Kishanji in 1984, and by 1987 the couple had been posted to the Dandakaranya Forest Committee in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra.

Padmavati carried a reward of ₹25 lakh, which was handed over to her on surrender. She will also receive benefits under the Telangana government’s rehabilitation policy for surrendered cadres, reported PTI.

Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar welcomed the development and appealed to Maoists to abandon the armed struggle. “As per Hon’ble HM Shri @AmitShah Ji’s call, I once again appeal to Maoists: Lay down arms. Armed revolutions are outdated. Join the path of development and welfare, in line with the people’s aspirations,” he posted on X.

Police figures show that in 2025 alone, 404 underground Maoist cadres, including four State Committee members, one Divisional Committee secretary, eight Divisional Committee members and 34 Area Committee members, surrendered before the Telangana police. Of the 15 current Central Committee members of CPI (Maoist), 10 are from Telangana.

The DGP urged remaining cadres from the state to follow suit and return to their villages.

(With inputs from PTI)