NEW DELHI: The surrender of CPI(Maoist) de facto general secretary Dipiri Tirupasi alias Devji and another central committee member Malla Raj Reddy alias Sangram was like the “final nail in the proverbial coffin of the CPI(Maoist)”, according to anti-Naxalites.When Devji comes to the ground and joins the mainstream, he is likely to be joined by other cadres who work closely with him – an announcement from the Telangana police is expected on Tuesday or Wednesday. A senior IPS official involved in anti-Maoist operations said that the remaining Maoist cadres in all the affected areas are believed to number about 300, mostly operating in groups of 10 to 12 and sometimes in scattered groups of 4 to 5. Their top leaders may not have the ideological baggage or appetite to continue facing the hail of bullets after the fall of their top leaders.Sangram, who is in his seventies, has been inactive of late, but his surrender, like Devji’s, marks the weakening of CPI(Maoist) ideology. After a round of surrenders by Politburo member Malohurla Venugopal, also known as Sonu, and central committee members Chandrana, Ramder, Rupesh and Sujata, the latest surrender involving their top leaders is seen as a potential signal to the Maoists still on the ground to follow orders. “The top leadership has always been dominated by Telugu veterans who once espoused violent, left-wing extremist ideologies and inspired others to ‘fight and fight’ against the state. By choosing pragmatism over ‘adherence to ideology’, junior cadres will have no incentive to continue living a tough life in the jungle,” an officer said.With Devji and Sangram on the verge of surrender, the only remaining active member of the CPI(Maoist) Supreme Politburo and Central Committee is Misir Besla. Besra, who runs the eastern regional bureau of the CPI(Maoist), is the only non-Telugu face in the organization’s decision-making hierarchy. He has been on the run since his close aide Analda was killed in Jharkhand state last month. Besra may be hiding on the Jharkhand-Odisha border and the army is tracking him. “He is likely to take a cue from Devji’s surrender and follow suit,” a police officer said.Meanwhile, multiple operations are being conducted simultaneously along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana-Odisha-Jharkhand axis to continue to exert pressure on the remaining Maoists to surrender or face suppression by security forces.
