Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji, the 62-year-old highest-ranking member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), was a staunch believer in the movement’s armed struggle and is alleged to be involved in the murders of over 250 security personnel and six villagers, and the looting of over 1,000 weapons as well as the escape from custody of over 300 Maoists.
Top officials in Telangana said on Sunday that he has surrendered. “In the history of the party, there is no other leader of this rank who has surrendered,” a top intelligence source told The Indian Express.
Amid the intensified crackdown on Maoists since 2024 and a March 31 deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the eradication of Left Wing Extremism in the country, the banned outfit underwent a split regarding the continuation of the armed struggle. Devuji was the leader of the faction that believed they should continue down this route, even as Politburo member Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu, who advocated for the laying down of weapons, surrendered in October last year.
Devuji was the head of the Central Military Commission of the Maoist party. He carries a combined bounty of Rs 1 crore from various states.
CPI (Maoist) Politburo member Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu, who advocated for the laying down of weapons, surrendered in October last year. (Express Photo)
While he is the highest-ranking member left in the party’s Politburo, it remains unclear whether he had been elevated to the post of general secretary following the death of Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju in an encounter in May last year. While some intelligence officials believe Devuji was appointed to the top-most post in the Maoist movement, others have expressed scepticism. However, his consideration for the top post indicated a change in the Maoist set-up, where only forward-caste Telugu leaders occupied the position. Devuji belongs to the Madiga Dalit community.
“It is worth mentioning that Devjui’s status as general secretary of the CPI (Maoist) organisation after the demise of Basavaraju is debatable. Recently surrendered Politburo member Sonu and Central Committee member Rupesh mentioned that no successor to Basavaraju has been elected,” said a senior police officer in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region.
CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju was killed in an encounter in May last year. (File Photo)
“Politburo member Sonu was believed to be a more acceptable leader for the Maoist cadres as general secretary. But after Sonu’s decision to shun violence and join the mainstream, along with Central Committee member Rupesh and more than 271 cadres (61 in Gadchiroli and 210 in Bastar), the CPI (Maoist) outfit has become leaderless and directionless,” the officer said.
Rise through Maoist ranks
Devuji was originally from Jagtial in Telangana. He studied up to the intermediate level at the Government Junior College in Korutla, where he was actively associated with the Radical Students Union (RSU) — a student group that also produced both Basavaraju and Sonu. His involvement with Left-wing radical activities began early in his life and led to a long and violent association with the CPI (Maoist).
In a letter believed to be written by him, Devuji is believed to have termed senior leaders like Sonu and Rupesh as traitors for surrendering to security forces. Along with military leaders like Hidma and Barse Deva, Devuji hoped to continue the armed struggle. However, Hidma, the infamous commander of Battalion 1 of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), was killed in an encounter last year. Barsa Deva, who has also held the post and was Hidma’s top aide, surrendered later.
Devuji is believed to be a key figure in the creation of the Maoists’ PLGA, and worked mostly in the background of leaders like Basavaraju Muppala Laxman Rao, alias Ganapathi.
He oversaw an organisation that, in recent years, saw a major depletion in strength and an inability to attract new recruits or regroup.
“He could not convince the leaders and cadres not to surrender. There was no recruitment under him, and they were woefully short of weapons and ammunition,” an official said.
His association with the Maoist movement began in 1982, when he was inducted as a member of the Radical Student Union. In 1986, he formally joined the Maoist movement as a party member in Telangana. In 1989, he was transferred to Maharashtra in Gadchiroli Division as Divisional Committee Member (DVCM).
In 1996, he was promoted as a Dandakarnya Special Zonal Committee (SZC) member, giving him a seat at the highest state-level body of the Maoists in Chhattisgarh. In 2001, he was elevated to the Central Committee. In 2019, Devuji was put in charge of the Central Military Commission of the CPI (Maoist).
Over the past two decades, he has been directly or indirectly involved in numerous major Maoist attacks across Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Odisha, resulting in 252 killings of security personnel and at least six civilians.
