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Hyderabad: The Communist Party of India (Maoist) has appointed Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji as the general secretary of the banned outfit.

The move follows the killing of former chief of the Maoist party Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraj, along with 27 guerrillas in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on May 21.

The Maoist party has also placed the People’s Guerrilla Liberation Army’s (PGLA) Battalion Number 1 top commander Hidma Madvi alias Santosh/Hedmalu in charge of the party’s operations in Bastar.

A native of Karimnagar district in Telangana, Tirupathi, who belongs to the Dalit community, was the chief of the Central Military Commission, the armed wing of the Maoist party.

Played key role in creation of South Indian guerrilla zone

He also played a key role in the creation of a south Indian guerrilla zone across the Western Ghats between Goa and Kerala’s Idukki.

He was made in charge of the Lalgarh movement in West Bengal, after the killing of former top Maoist leader Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, during the Operation Green Hunt launched by the Centre in the late 2000s.

Incidentally, Kishenji belonged to Peddapalli town of the present Peddapalli district, which is part of the undivided Karimnagar district.

Devuji and Hidma have been known to have masterminded the ‘Dantewada ambush’ in 2010, that had left 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead.

Devuji was also involved in the ‘Ranibodali attack’ in 2007, when 55 jawans were killed.

Hidma had also played a key role in the killing of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Dantewada MLA Bhima Mandavi in 2019. Hidma carries a bounty of Rs 40 lakh on his head.

Operation Black Forest

It has been reported that the ‘Operation Black Forest’ launched in the Karreguttalu hillocks on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border jointly by the Chhattisgarh police, CRPF, District Reserve Guards (DRG) and Cobra battalion, was aimed at eliminating Hidma, who was believed to have been located in those hillocks at the time of the operation conducted on April 21.

The Chhattisgarh police had announced that 31 Maoists were killed in that operation. However, Hidma was believed to have escaped.

The Maoist party’s decision to revive the party has come at a time when the party has been facing repeated setbacks due to the Centre’s Operation Kagaar and Operation Prahaar, among other operations being carried out in the Naxal-infested states of India.

Hundreds of Maoists have been killed, and hundreds have surrendered before the police.