Top Maoist commander Barse Deva surrenders before Telangana Police

Hyderabad, Jan 2 (IANS) In yet another blow to the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist, top Maoist commander Barse Deva has surrendered before the Telangana Police.

Deva, who is a high-ranking commander of Battalion No. 1 of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), laid down arms before Telangana Director General of Police B Shivadhar Reddy.

Fifteen other Maoists have also surrendered along with Deva, who hails from Chhattisgarh and was long considered a central figure in the Maoist military hierarchy.

Deva, along with other Maoists, reportedly surrendered on Thursday in an area onthe Telangana-Chhattisgarh border. They were later brought to Hyderabad.

The Telangana DGP is likely to announce Deva’s surrender and reveal other details at a news conference on Saturday.

Deva’s surrender is viewed as a major strategic victory for security forces, as he commanded the most elite fighting unit of the outlawed CPI-Maoist.

Hailing from Puvarti village in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, Deva was the most important commander of PLGA following the killing of Madvi Hidma in an exchange of fire with police in Andhra Pradesh in November 2025.

Hidma, a Central Committee member of CPI-Maoist and commandant of PLGA Battalion No 1, his wife Raje and four others were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitharamaraju district in the Andhra-Odisha border area on November 18.

Deva was said to be the mastermind behind several attacks on security forces in the Dandakaranya forest belt and carried a heavy bounty.

During 2025, as many as 509 underground CPI-Maoist cadres surrendered before the Telangana Police. They included two Central Committee Members (CCMs), 11 State Committee Members (SCMs and three Divisional Committee Secretaries (DVCS).

Out of the total 509 surrendered cadres, 483 cadres are from Chhattisgarh, 24 from Telangana, and one each from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

The DGP had said on December 30 that these surrenders underscore the steady decline of the organisation.

ms/vd