Barsa Deva, a senior commander of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion 1, is set to surrender before Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) B Shivadhar Reddy, along with several other Maoist cadres.
According to police officials, multiple Maoists — including Barsa Deva, also known as Barsa Sukka – will lay down arms before the Telangana police chief on Saturday. His surrender is being viewed as a major setback to the Maoist movement in Chhattisgarh.
“This effectively marks the end of the Maoist chapter in Sukma district, the stronghold of Madvi Hidma and his feared associate Barsa Deva,” Telangana DGP B Shivadhar Reddy told. He added that with Hidma killed last year and Deva now surrendering, the Maoist movement in Chhattisgarh has reached its final phase.
Deva is expected to surrender along with his personal security detail and 18 cadres. The DGP said sustained pressure from security forces, including Telangana’s anti-Maoist units, led Deva to agree to surrender.
“With the elimination of Hidma and the surrender of Deva, there is no leadership left to continue violent Maoist activities,” Reddy said.
The surrender follows outreach efforts by Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Vijay Sharma, who had met the families – particularly the mothers – of both Hidma and Deva, urging them to persuade Deva to give up arms. Sharma noted that Hidma had ignored similar appeals, which ultimately resulted in his death in an encounter.
Hailing from the same village, Puvarti, Hidma and Deva were key figures in the Dandakaranya region. Deva, a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee and a senior leader of the banned CPI (Maoist), was among the most wanted Maoist commanders. He is accused of orchestrating multiple attacks on security forces, including the deadly ambush on Congress leaders in Sukma district in May 2013, and carried a bounty exceeding Rs.50 lakh.
Officials believe Deva’s surrender will further cripple an already weakened Maoist network, which has seen a series of surrenders and encounter deaths over the past year. Hidma was killed in an encounter in the Maredumilli forest of Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju district.
Appealing to remaining Maoist leaders, the Telangana DGP urged them to surrender and take advantage of rehabilitation schemes, noting that Telangana’s surrender policy has also been adopted by other states.
With Deva now giving up arms, only a handful of senior Maoist leaders remain underground. Among them is Thippiri Tirupathi, alias Devuji – the general secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist) – who is currently absconding and being pursued by security forces across Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
