Sunday brought cheers to Telangana Police with the dramatic surrender of Maoist heavyweight Thipparri Tirupati, better known as Devji, and his 16 associates in Adilabad’s Asifabad forest area. As CPI (Maoist) general secretary, Devji’s voluntary disarmament delivers a crushing hit to the terrorist outfit’s top brass.
A Peddapalli native with a Rs 25 lakh price tag, Devji steered the group after Basavaraju’s neutralization in Chhattisgarh last May. He was a central committee stalwart among 17 influential Telangana Maoists scattered across India’s rebel networks.
The catalyst was DGP B. Shivdhar Reddy’s public plea last month, promising full rehabilitation and invoking the slogan ‘No More Struggle, Embrace Your Village.’ This humane approach has yielded 576 surrenders in 2025 alone.
Contextually, Devji’s move follows the November arrests of his security detail in Andhra Pradesh, post-encounters wiping out Hidma, his wife, and Tek Shankar’s squad. Police anticipate parading the surrenderees Monday, though confirmation is awaited.
This high-value defection underscores the Maoists’ dwindling fortunes—besieged by superior intelligence, joint operations, and reintegration incentives. Devji’s weapons handover symbolizes eroding ideological hold and practical exhaustion.
Forward-looking, Telangana’s surrender-rehabilitation framework includes monthly allowances, housing plots, and training programs, fostering self-reliance. Community leaders hail it as a peace milestone, urging others to follow suit.
Security analysts note this as part of a broader Maoist decline, with leadership vacuums and cadre fatigue accelerating breakdowns. For Telangana, it reinforces commitment to sustainable development over sustained conflict in tribal belts.