In a significant development, a dreaded Maoist female leader carrying a bounty of Rs 1 crore on her head, as announced by various state governments has been reportedly arrested/detained by the police in Telangana,
According to the details, Maoist leader Sujata alias Potula Kalpana who is considered instrumental in recruiting female Maoist cadres to the banned CPI (Maoist) in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar was reportedly apprehended by the authorities from Mehboob Nagar of Hyderabad recently.
A resident of Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana, Sujata (60) has donned many prominent roles in the Maoist outfit and was active as in-charge of the South Sub-Zonal Bureau of the CPI (Maoist). She was also reported to be a member of the all-powerful Central Committee (CC) of the Maoists and was carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 1 crore announced by the state governments of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
According to the reports, Sujata joined the dreaded group at an early age and relocated to forested zones of Bastar where she spent a long period of time after the demise of her husband. Sujata’s husband Koteshwar Rao alias Kishan Ji was among the top brass of the Maoist outfit before his death.
The dreaded Maoist leader is also said to be well versed in several languages such as Bengali, Marathi, Odia, Telugu and various other local dialects such as Gondi, Halbi prevalent among the locals in Bastar. She is also believed to have trained notorious Madavi Hidma, a former commander of the PLGA battalion no 1 who is now said to be a part of Maoist’s CC.
She is considered to be part of the think-tank that are behind several major attacks against the security forces such as the infamous Tadmetla attack in 2010 where 76 security personnel lost their lives fighting a surprise attack by the outlaws. She was also reported to be involved with the Jheerum valley ambush in 2013, in which many political leaders were killed, Chintagufa attack in the year 2017 where 25 personnel lost their lives along Teklagudem and Minpa attacks which resulted in 38 security personnel got veergati.
More than 100 cases are pending against her at various police stations in Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma district of Bastar, where she reported to be residing before moving to Telangana recently for her falling health.
Sujata reportedly travelled to Kothagudem of Telangana from interiors of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar around 10 days ago for medical treatment and was apprehended subsequently by the authorities after they received intel about her presence. She is said to be suffering from various aliments for a long time.
It is being speculated that the arrest of Sujata could led to revelation of crucial information about the organisational structure and current operating strength of the Maoists, who have already been pushed on the back foot by the security forces, given back to back successful operations in Maad region which have resulted in heavy losses for the Maoists.
It is noteworthy that the Union Home Minister has recently announced that the war against the Maoists has reached its final stages and the country will be free from the menace of ‘red terror’ by March 2026.
