Maoist leader Bandi Prakash set to surrender in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Maoist State Committee member and Singareni workers’ union leader Bandi Prakash, also known as Prabhat, Ashok and Kranthi, is reportedly preparing to surrender to the police.
According to intelligence inputs, Prakash, who hails from the Singareni region of Mancherial district, arrived in Hyderabad from Dandakaranya about five days ago and has been holding discussions with senior state police officers. Sources said the ailing Maoist leader underwent medical tests on Thursday.
Early activism and underground years
Prakash, the second son of Singareni worker Bandi Ramarao and Amruthamma of the Pochamma Temple area in Mandamarri, became active in the Radical Students’ Union (RSU) during the “Go to the Villages” campaign between 1982 and 1984.
After the formation of the Singareni Collieries Workers’ Union (SIKASA), he joined it as a militant member. He was arrested in 1984 in connection with the murder of AITUC leader V T Abraham of Mandamarri. While being shifted from Warangal Central Jail to Adilabad Sub-Jail, he escaped along with People’s War leaders Nalla Adireddy, Hussain and Munjam Ratnaiah.
He later married Hema and lived briefly in obscurity before being arrested again in Hyderabad. During his confinement in Cherlapalli Jail, he came into contact with top People’s War leaders including Sakamuri Appa Rao, after which he went underground once more.
Leadership and declining health
As a senior SIKASA leader, Prakash led several miners’ agitations and mass campaigns in Singareni. Currently 54, he serves as a member of the Telangana State Committee of the CPI (Maoist) and as secretary of the Singareni Coalbelt Committee, besides being the Press Committee in-charge.
Prakash resurfaced during the 2004 peace talks in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and supervised the construction of a memorial for Maoist martyrs at Begumpet village in Ramagiri mandal of Peddapalli district.
Battling diabetes and other ailments, Prakash has reportedly decided to surrender due to deteriorating health and advancing age. The Telangana government has a ₹25 lakh reward on his head.
