Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 6 (HBTV): Top People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) commander Deva and 19 other Maoist cadres surrendered before the Telangana Police along with a cache of high-calibre weapons, including a foreign-made Tavor CQB, officials said on Monday.
Director General of Police Shivadhar Reddy said the operational capabilities of the extremist groups had been significantly weakened. ‘The operational reach of these groups has been severely neutralised. Our forces have applied such consistent pressure that their previous freedom of movement has been entirely eliminated,’ he said.
He added that while most of the recovered weapons, including AK-47 rifles and light machine guns, were suspected to be stolen police equipment, the origin of the Israeli-manufactured Tavor CQB was under investigation. ‘We are specifically investigating the origin of an Israeli-manufactured Tavor CQB found in their possession,’ the DGP said.
Last month, in another major setback to the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation, 41 underground cadres, including six senior functionaries, surrendered before the Telangana Police in the presence of the Director General of Police. Police said the surrendered cadres included leaders holding Company Platoon Committee Member and Divisional Committee Member ranks, indicating a significant erosion of the group’s organisational strength and leadership credibility.
Along with the cadres, 24 firearms and a large cache of ammunition were handed over, substantially weakening the outfit’s operational capability in the region. The surrendered weapons included one INSAS light machine gun, three AK-47 rifles, five SLRs, seven INSAS rifles, one BL gun, four .303 rifles, one single-shot rifle and two air guns, along with 733 live rounds of ammunition of various calibres and eight BGL shells.
According to police officials, the surrender followed an appeal by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in October 2025, urging Maoist cadres to abandon violence and join the state’s development process. The cadres cited sustained pressure from security forces, shrinking logistical support, internal rifts, ideological disillusionment and harsh living conditions in forest areas as reasons for surrender. Many also referred to arbitrary deployments to unfamiliar regions, resulting in hardship and prolonged separation from their families.
Under the Telangana government’s rehabilitation policy, financial assistance ranging from INR 1 lakh to INR 5 lakh will be provided based on rank. For the 41 cadres who surrendered earlier, a total of INR 1.46 crore will be disbursed after completion of documentation. Interim relief of INR 25,000 each has already been provided, police said.
The DGP said that in 2025 alone, 509 Maoist cadres of various ranks, including central and state committee members, surrendered before the Telangana Police, reflecting a steady decline of the extremist organisation. Appealing to remaining underground cadres, particularly those native to Telangana, he urged them to renounce violence, surrender their weapons and return to their villages, assuring complete protection and support under the state’s rehabilitation and reintegration programme. (ANI)