Who is B Sumathi, the intelligence officer behind Maoist commander Devuji’s surrender

Telangana’s Director General of Police B Shivadhar Reddy, who was on the dais with her, thanked Sumathi in person, congratulating her and “her SIB” for making “this high-profile surrender possible”.

It was while the 2004 talks were on that Muppala Laxman Rao alias Ganapathi announced the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre and People’s War to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist). After Devuji’s surrender, Ganapathi, the CPI (Maoist)’s former general secretary, is one of its last big leaders left, with some reports indicating he may be dead.

Those who know Sumathi are not surprised at her presence at both events. A colleague told The Indian Express: “In 2004, she impressed with her composure even under so much pressure. The whole weight of the talks at the time rested on the state government and its police department.”

And on Tuesday, when Telangana showcased its big achievement in getting Devuji to surrender, nobody deserved to be more on the stage than Sumathi, a highly placed source said. “Without her tactics, it would have been impossible.”

According to the source, the officer ensured the surrender, while making it clear that it would happen on the state’s terms and not that of the Maoists.

The source underlined the importance of this, with Devuji being a member of the CPI (Maoist) Politburo and Central Committee, as well as the head of its armed wing, Central Military Commission, for close to two decades.

If in 2004, Sumathi was the first woman DySP of Andhra Pradesh, in 2024, when she was appointed the SIB IG, she was the first woman to hold the post in a force founded for the specific purpose of tackling Maoist insurgency.

While Devuji’s surrender has brought her to the limelight, as the SIB chief, Sumathi has overseen “591 Maoist surrenders”, said officials, including four members of the Central Committee and 16 of the State Committee.

Underlining her “grit”, a source close to Sumathi said she was carrying her first child at the time of the 2004 peace talks. “She went on maternity leave only after the talks concluded.”

At the same time, Sumathi is remembered as a police officer with “a heart”, and as “a people’s officer”, for the time she spent in Warangal in DySP rank. When she was transferred from Warangal to Hyderabad, “people protested and held dharnas”, an officer who knew her then said.

In Hyderabad, she joined the CID, Cyber Crimes, as SP, and also worked in counter-intelligence. “During this time, she travelled across the country, including Delhi, to question terror suspects,” a source said.

This was the time that Hyderabad witnessed two bomb blasts. “She led the interrogations,” a source said, adding that she dealt with alleged members of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and, later, the Islamic State.

This combination of skills has helped her in the battle against the Maoists, said sources close to her. “With her work in intelligence and counter-intelligence, and as head of the women’s police force of Telangana – She Teams – Sumathi has seen it all. It helps her engage with the Maoists at the level of worldview,” an intelligence source said.

Another source said that Sumathi believes that “lasting peace” can only come if Maoists are “rehabilitated”, and that killing them would only make them “martyrs”. This has gelled well with the Telangana government’s push to return Maoists to the mainstream.

At the same time, Sumathi wants the surrendering Maoist leadership to see that “the state’s way is the right way”, that it can’t be “a dialogue”, said sources.

When, after his formal surrender Tuesday, Devuji said that “I would like to work within the legal framework of the country”, it was an attestation of sorts.