Raipur/Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough in India’s fight against left-wing extremism (LWE), senior Maoist commander Pothula Padmawati, alias Sujata, surrendered before Telangana Police on Saturday.
A Central Committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist), Sujata had been active for decades across Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra, and carried a bounty of Rs 1 crore.
Her surrender is being seen as a significant blow to the Maoist movement and a symbolic collapse of morale within its ranks, Telangana Police said on Saturday.
Sujata, 62, hails from Peninskal Padu village in Katu Mandal, Gadwal district. Born into an agricultural family, her father Thimarati served as a village postmaster, while her mother Wanka was a homemaker.
She was married to Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji, a prominent Maoist leader and former secretary of the West Bengal State Committee, who was killed in an encounter in 2011.
The couple had one daughter.
Inspired by early Leftist figures such as Patel Sudhakar (Suryam), RK (Sudhakar), and Sugna, Sujata joined the CPI-ML People’s War Group in 1982.
Over the years, she rose through the ranks, serving as a village campaigner, commander of multiple Talams, and eventually as in-charge of the South Bastar Division.
In 2023, she was inducted into the Maoist Central Committee and also served as editor of Puri, a magazine published in the Koya language, DGP Telangana, Dr Jitender told the media during a press conference.
Citing health concerns and ideological disillusionment, the top cop said, Sujata expressed her desire to live peacefully with her family and reintegrate into society.
Telangana Police confirmed she will receive Rs 25 lakh under the state’s comprehensive rehabilitation policy, along with other benefits extended to surrendered cadres.
Her surrender follows a series of high-profile eliminations of senior Maoist leaders, including Baswaraju and Balakrishna, both killed in Chhattisgarh.
These actions, along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s announcement to eliminate LWE by March 2026, have intensified pressure on the organisation, he said.
“Maoist commander and Central Committee member Sujata, who was active in Chhattisgarh and Telangana for several decades and had a bounty of Rs 1 crore on her head, got disillusioned with the Maoist ideology and surrendered in Telangana,” BJP Chhattisgarh unit posted on X.
In 2025 alone, 44 underground cadres from Telangana and Chhattisgarh have surrendered, including several senior leaders.
Officials believe Sujata’s exit will disrupt Maoist command structures and encourage others to follow suit, further accelerating the government’s campaign for peace and stability in long-affected tribal regions.
(IANS)
