Senior Maoist leaders surrender before Telangana police

A senior Maoist underground leader Pasunoori Narahari alias Vishwanath alias Salai Da, a Central Committee Member and secretary of the Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee, surrendered before Telangana Director General of Police C.V. Anand on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) along with his wife and senior Maoist leader Medara Danamma alias Latha alias Poonam alias Joba.

Police described the surrender as a significant blow to the organisation’s Eastern Regional Bureau, which they said was now on the verge of collapse.

Narahari, 64, is a native of Somidi village in Kazipet mandal of Hanumakonda district. He joined the movement in 1982 after being associated with the Radical Students Union during his student days. Over the decades, he rose through the ranks from a dalam member to commander, Regional Committee Member, State Committee Member and eventually Central Committee Member in 2017.

According to police, he handled technical operations for the Maoist organisation across several States, including Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand, and possessed expertise in manufacturing and maintenance of firearms, mortars, rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, grenades and booby traps. He also trained cadres in weapons production and repair.

Danamma, 55, originally from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, joined the movement in the late 1980s and later became a State Committee Member in the Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee. She was arrested in Nagpur in 2004 and remained in jail till 2011 before rejoining the organisation after securing bail.

The couple married in 1988 and subsequently worked in various Maoist organisational and technical wings in different States.

As part of the Telangana government’s rehabilitation policy, police handed over demand drafts of ₹25 lakh to Narahari and ₹20 lakh to Danamma. Police officials said they would also receive additional rehabilitation benefits under the State policy.

According to data released by Telangana police, 264 underground CPI (Maoist) cadres have surrendered in the State so far in 2026. These include three Central Committee Members, 11 State Committee Members, one Regional Committee Member, 24 Divisional Committee members and 131 party members.

Police also said 238 firearms were recovered from Maoist cadres in Telangana this year alone. The recovered weapons include AK-47 rifles, INSAS rifles, SLRs, carbines, revolvers and other firearms.

The Telangana police said that only three active underground cadres native to Telangana are presently operating outside the State, including Central Committee Member Muppala Laxman Rao alias Ganapathi and State Committee Members Jade Ratna Bai alias Sujatha and Vartha Shekhar alias Mangthu. The DGP appealed to the remaining cadres to surrender and join the mainstream.