Thu Jul 17 07:24:57 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article based on the provided text:
**The Hindu: National News**
**Senior Maoist Leaders Surrender in Telangana, Citing Desire for Peace**
**HYDERABAD, July 17, 2025** – In a significant blow to the Maoist insurgency, two senior leaders of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) have surrendered to Rachakonda Police Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu on Thursday. The couple, Mala Sanjeev, also known as Lengu Dada, 62, and Perugula Parvathi, also known as Bontala Parvathi or Deena, 50, were key figures in the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC).
Sanjeev, a founding member of the party’s cultural wing, Chaitanya Natya Manch (CNM), is a contemporary of the late revolutionary balladeer Gaddar. Parvathi also held a high-ranking position within the CNM’s Cultural Sub-Committee.
According to police reports, the couple cited the Telangana government’s rehabilitation policies and welfare schemes for former Maoists as factors influencing their decision to surrender. They expressed a desire to live peacefully with their families after spending over four decades in the armed movement.
Commissioner Sudheer Babu hailed the surrender as a “moral victory” for the Telangana Police, emphasizing their sustained and inclusive approach to counterinsurgency. “Their decision reflects the growing confidence in our rehabilitation policy and the realisation that violence has no place in today’s democratic society,” he stated.
Sanjeev’s involvement with the Maoist movement dates back to 1980, when he joined the Jana Natya Mandali (JNM), the cultural wing of the CPI (ML) People’s War, led by Gaddar. He was instrumental in spreading the party’s ideology through performances across 16 states. Parvathi joined the Maoist ranks in 1992, later marrying Sanjeev in 2007 and continued to perform, compose and train Maoist cadres.
Both Sanjeev and Parvathi have survived encounters with security forces in the past.
The Rachakonda Police are urging other underground Maoists from Telangana to follow the couple’s lead and return to civilian life. The Police Commissioner warned of legal action against individuals disrupting law and order under the guise of mass organisations. Authorities are citing a decline in Maoist recruitment and a shift in youth attitudes as evidence that the ideology is failing.
The surrender follows recent reports of other Maoist cadres and militia members surrendering in the region, indicating a potential weakening of the Maoist presence.
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