Hyderabad: Malla Rajireddy seeks Maoist ban withdrawal
HYDERABAD: Former Maoist central committee member Malla Rajireddy alias Sangram said the banned Maoist party would prefer to work legally among people if the prohibition on the organisation is lifted.
Rajireddy said he wished to take the Maoist ideology to the public through lawful means if the ban is removed. The former leader recently laid down arms and joined mainstream life.
Attempts to join Telangana movement failed
Rajireddy said he wanted to work with the Telangana statehood movement after his release from jail but circumstances did not allow it.
He said he was arrested in 2007 in Kerala in connection with the murder of former Telangana Assembly Speaker Sripada Rao while working for the People’s War South-West Regional Bureau. After spending two years in jail, he was released on bail.
“At that time, the Telangana movement was gaining momentum. I wanted to join the movement. But on the day I was released, media reports claimed I had gone underground again,” he said.
He added that police in other states were preparing to arrest him in multiple cases. “Well-wishers advised that if that happened I would spend my life in jail. I decided it was better to work underground,” he said, adding that he returned to Dandakaranya within 15 days after re-establishing contact with People’s War cadres.
Opposed attempt to split Maoist party
Rajireddy said Maoist central committee member Sonu had issued a statement earlier under the name Abhay, expressing readiness for a temporary suspension of armed struggle due to the intense situation created by Operation Kagar.
He said Rupesh, the north sub-zonal in-charge, supported the proposal. However, BR Dada said the Centre had refused to allow time for internal review on a temporary ceasefire.
Rajireddy said the leadership later felt Sonu and Rupesh were attempting to split the party. “I met Sonu in the Indravati river region and told him that such an attempt was wrong,” he said.
After BR Dada was killed in a later encounter, Sonu and Rupesh left the party and surrendered with weapons, he added.
Ganapathi may be in urban shelter
Rajireddy said speculation that Maoist leader Ganapathi had gone to Nepal was unlikely.
According to him, the last meeting attended by Ganapathi took place after Operation Kagar intensified, when the central committee discussed continuing both mass movements and resistance activities.
He said the party decided to move Ganapathi from the Maoist zone due to health reasons and send him to an urban area for treatment. “He may still be in an urban shelter. In my view, reports that he went to Nepal are not correct,” Rajireddy said.
Basavaraj encounter claim questioned
Rajireddy also questioned the encounter in which Maoist leader Basavaraj (BR) was killed.
He said two operations were carried out in the Maoist zone in January and March 2025, but Basavaraj escaped safely.
Later, based on information given by surrendered Maoists in Bijapur, central forces surrounded the Gundekot region on May 19.
“Eyewitnesses said Basavaraj was captured alive on May 21. Party internal analysis found that he was killed in an encounter 10–20 minutes after being captured,” Rajireddy said.
