Top Naxal leader, Malloujula Venugopal Rao surrenders along with 60 cadres in Gadhchiroli
Top Naxal leader Malloujula Venugopal Rao along with 60 Naxal cadres, surrendered to authorities on October 14 in Gadhchiroli
Gadchiroli: Top Naxal leader Malloujula Venugopal Rao, also known as Sonu, a politburo member of the CPI/Maoist, along with 60 Naxal cadres, surrendered to authorities today (October 14) in Gadhchiroli, Maharashtra.
Last week, there were reports that Sonu, a native of Telangana, had resigned from the party. In a letter, he had called upon cadres to save themselves and not make meaningless sacrifices, exposing the rift within Maoists over giving up arms and joining the mainstream.
According to the police, Sonu has received support from the North sub-Zonal and West sub-Zonal Bureau of CPI (Maoist), who have expressed an interest in joining the mainstream.
The surrender is expected to bolster ongoing operations against left-wing extremism and may encourage other cadres to follow suit.
Officially a Politburo and Central Military Commission member, Sonu, 70, was the ideological head of the party as well as its communication specialist and the thread that connected it to the world outside the forests of Chhattisgarh.
Sonu, is a resident of Peddapalli in Telangana, He is the brother of slain Maoist leader Mallojula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, who was killed in 2011.
