Top woman Maoist leader surrenders before Telangana police
A top Maoist leader and Divisional Committee Member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Aluri Usha Rani alias Vijayakka alias Pochakka alias Bhanu Didi (53), surrendered before the Telangana police in the presence of Director General of Police, M.Mahender Reddy on Saturday. She was an active member of the north Sub Zonal Bureau of the CPI(M)’s Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee.
According to the police, Usha Rani was involved in several violent incidents both in Telangana and Chattisgarh. She confessed to have participated in a total of 14 offences during her underground life as a Maoist in Telangana and Chhattisgarh states which includes five attacks on security forces, three exchanges of fire with police, three cases of blasting of buildings of public and private, an abduction case and two assault cases.
She was severely injured in an exchange of fire in the past and also survived after receiving a bullet injury near Pedda Adisharlapalli village on Sagar road in the erstwhile Nalgonda district,” Mahender Reddy said.
A native of Tenali of Guntur district, she was brought up at Gudivada in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh and was attracted towards CPI (ML) Peoples War ideology. She formally joined the movement in 1991 and was first allocated to the Munugode Dalam, then operating widely in Nalgonda district.
The dalam was then led by one Ilanna and Ushai Rani was made a Squad Area Committee (SAC) member in 1993 of the CPI (Maoist). In 1994, she was promoted as deputy commander and continued in the Rachakonda Dalam. In 1995, she was promoted as Maoist commander of the Rachakonda squad.
In November 1998, her husband Mukka Venkateshwar Gupta alias Kiran, DCS, Nalgonda district secretary of the South Telangana Regional Committee, died in an exchange of fire after blowing up the Yadagirigutta police station.
“Subsequent to the death of her husband, Usha Rani was elevated to the rank of Divisional Committee Member and made in-charge for Rachakonda and Alair Area Committees and continued in the position till 2002,” the DGP added.
Senior police officials said after her surrender, Usha Rani confessed that the CPI (M) suffered a setback both militarily and organizationally due to arrests, death and surrender of important as well as senior cadres.
“Post 2014, the top leadership of the Maoist party had gone into a self-preservation mode, wherein the functioning underwent drastic transformation giving more priority to secrecy. As a result, there is a visible gap between the top leadership and lower cadre leading to denial of information on the developments taking place in the organization,” an official said.
The extremist outfit is learnt to have been recruiting cadres from the tribal belts of Dandakaranya. Usha Rani had in her confessed is learnt to have told the police that recruitment is reducing day by day both quantitatively and qualitatively.
“Due to lack of leadership, the party has lost its focus on strengthening. I appeal the cadres to join the mainstream and take part in the advancement of the nation through constructive participation,” the DGP requested.
Surrendering will benefit from the rehabilitation process, which includes immediate relief with monetary help and other support measures, Mahender Reddy added.
