NEW DELHI: Just as Rome was not built in a day, the CPI (Maoist), once the source of Red terror across 10 states, wasn’t rendered headless in a day, with its heavily depleted strength of around 300 armed cadres now scattered across the Dandakarenya region and a few other pockets, leaving the outfit in “tatters”.It has taken several blows to chip away at the CPI (Maoist) top leadership, defined by two apex bodies, the politburo (PB) and the central committee (CC), before the Chhattisgarh Police eliminated the outfit’s No. 1-Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju-with his entire protection team.Since 2005, 14 PB members have been arrested or killed or have died due to illnesses. This has shrunk the PB to just four active members-Muppalla Laxman Rao alias Ganpathy, Mallojula Venugopal alias Abhay, Thippiri Tirupathi alias Deoji, and Misir Besra.Sources indicated that either Abhay or Deoji, both from Telangana, may have take up Basavaraju’s mantle, though there is no statement yet from CPI (Maoist) on the succession. Every PB member is part of the CC but not vice versa.The CC numbers too have dwindled, with 26 non-PB members lost since 2007 to arrests, surrenders and death by illness. It now has 14 active members, including the four PB leaders. A dozen CC members are currently in jail and three dead by disease. Four CC members have surrendered in Telangana and Maharashtra and seven neutralised since 2007, including four this year.Active CC members now include Kadari Satyanaryana Reddy, Chandranna, Modem Balakrishna, Ganesh Uike, Gajarla Ravi, Anal da, Madvi Hidma, K Ramachandra Reddy, Sujata and Malla Raja Reddy.“The command structure of the Maoists is now in tatters. Consistent intelligence-led operations and surrenders have left the organisation fragmented and disoriented,” Bastar IGP Sundarraj P told TOI. “In all, 300 armed cadres are hiding in scattered hideouts of Dandakarenya and few other pockets…The only options they have is to surrender or get eliminated,” said the IGP.Though the CPI (Maoist) has lately issued several appeals for ceasefire and talks, no PB or CC leader has taken up forces’ renewed offer to surrender, “possibly due to ego,” said another officer.Erosion of the PB started in 2005 with the arrest of Sushil Roy in West Bengal. Between 2008 and 2011, more PB members landed behind bars-Pramod Mishra in Ranchi in 2008 and again in 2022; Kobad Gandhy in Delhi in 2009, though he is now a free man; Amitabh Bagchi in Ranchi in 2009; and Jagdish Yadav in Gaya, Bihar, in 2011. Baccha Prasad Singh and Bansi Dhar Singh were apprehended in Kanpur in 2010. Jhantu Mukherjee and Narayan Sanyal were arrested in 2006 and 2011, respectively, but are now dead. Kattam Sudarshan died in Dandakarenya in 2023. PB members Cherkuri Rajkumar alias ‘Azad’ and Kishenji were killed in 2010-2011, while Arvindji succumbed to illness in Jharkhand in 2018. Prashant Bose alias Kishan da was arrested with his wife Sheela Marandi, a CC member, from Jharkhand in 2021.The biggest blow came with the elimination of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju, a PB and CC member. The CC is now down to just 14 members, including 4 PB leaders. Among the CC members arrested are Mithilesh Mehta in 2007 and again in 2022; Vishnu in Mumbai in 2007; Moti Lal Soren in 2009 in Odisha; Pradeep Singla in 2009; Vijay Kumar Arya in 2011 and 2022 and Varanasi Subrahmanyam in Bihar in 2011. More recently, Sheela Marandi was picked up in 2021; B V Krishna Murthy in Kerala in 2022; Kanchan da in Assam in 2022; Sabyasachi Goswami in West Bengal in 2024; and Sanjay Deepak Rao in 2023 in Hyderabad.
