By Pramod Chaturvedi
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 7 (ANI): Former CPI (Maoist) commander Badse Sukka, alias Deva, who carried a reward of Rs 75 lakh and was considered one of the most powerful tribal leaders of the outlawed organisation, has said that he decided to surrender only after being caught by Telangana Police during a routine vehicle check.
Deva, who was the battalion commander of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), surrendered on January 3 along with 19 other CPI (Maoist) cadres, dealing a major blow to the organisation in the region.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Deva said he was travelling for an assignment when police intercepted his vehicle, checked it, detained him and brought him to Hyderabad.
“The police stopped and checked me. After checking, they brought me here and after that I decided to surrender,” Deva told ANI. He clarified that his decision was not influenced by recent encounters or surrenders of Naxal cadres. “I did not surrender after seeing encounters or surrenders. They caught me and after that I made this decision,” he said.
Deva also admitted that he was carrying cash at the time of his detention and that his diary contained information about an arms dump, which later helped police recover a large cache of weapons. Some of the arms, he said, had been looted from police forces.
“I had seven AK-47s, INSAS rifles and an SLR. The remaining weapons were recovered from a dump,” he said, adding that several of the weapons seized belonged to him personally.
According to Telangana Police, a total of 48 high-grade weapons were recovered following the surrender. These included AK-47s, light machine guns (LMGs), SLRs, INSAS rifles and an Israeli-made Tavor CQB rifle.
Telangana Director General of Police Shivadhar Reddy said the surrender of senior Maoist leaders and the recovery of such a large weapons cache had significantly weakened CPI (Maoist) operations in the region.
“There is a lot of internal conflict within CPI (Maoist). They are also facing health problems. Due to immense pressure from security forces, their movement has been completely restricted, forcing many cadres to surrender,” the DGP said.
He added that almost all the recovered weapons had been looted from police forces, except for the Tavor CQB rifle, the source of which is still under investigation.
Deva was a contemporary of Madvi Hidma, one of the top CPI (Maoist) leaders who was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh in November last year. Both hailed from Puvvarthi and had worked together in different divisions of the organisation.
Police officials said Deva joined CPI (ML) People’s War Group in 2003 under Hidma’s influence and later became an expert in military strategy, explosives procurement, and the manufacture of firearms and IEDs.
“When Hidma was promoted and left the PLGA battalion in November 2023, he selected Deva as his successor and deputed him as PLGA battalion commander,” police said.
They further stated that Deva was known for his ruthless tactics and was linked to several deadly ambushes and raids, including the Jheram Ghati attack in Chhattisgarh, in which senior Congress leaders were killed.
Police also revealed that surrendered cadres disclosed growing discontent within CPI (Maoist), alleging that leadership arbitrarily deployed cadres to unfamiliar and distant regions without consent, leading to serious mobility, logistical and survival challenges.
Sustained pressure from security forces and worsening internal conditions have resulted in a growing number of Maoist cadres laying down arms, officials added. (ANI)
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