In a significant breakthrough for the Telangana Police, two senior leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation, Kakarala Sunitha @ Badri, Senior State Committee Member (SCM), DK SZC, and Chennuri Harish @ Ramanna, Area Committee Member (ACM), Telangana State Committee surrendered before the Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda, on August 21.
Announcing the surrender, the Rachakonda Police Commissioner’s Office said in a press note: “After being involved in the revolutionary movement for decades, senior underground leaders Kakarala Sunitha and Chennuri Harish have returned to the mainstream of public life. Their surrender marks a success of the strategies adopted by the Telangana Police in encouraging extremists to join the social mainstream.”
The Commissioner of Police, G Sudheer Babu urged other underground Maoists from Telangana to follow suit, return to their native villages, and participate in the development of the state. Authorities reiterated that every Maoist who gives up violence and joins the mainstream would be rehabilitated under government welfare schemes.
— Rachakonda Police (@RachakondaCop) August 21, 2025
Kakarala Sunitha @ Badri, aged 62, is a resident of Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad. She has held several key positions including Senior State Committee Member (SCM), DK SZC, as well as being a member of the Regional Political School (RePoS) and the Education Departmental Committee (EDC).
Drawn into radical politics while studying in Rajahmundry in 1985, Sunitha was influenced by the Revolutionary Writers’ Association (VIRASAM) lead by Moaist ideologue P. Vara Vara Rao, of which her father Kakarala Satyanarayana was an important leader.
She joined the CPI (ML) People’s War in 1986 and worked as a Central Organiser in Vijayawada and Guntur. In 1986, she married fellow Maoist TLN Chalam. Sunitha entered the Nallamala forests in 1992, became a Divisional Committee Member by 2001, later shifted to the Andhra–Odisha Border, and eventually moved to Dandakaranya in 2006. She was involved in the Pujariguda and Kutul encounters.
On June 5, 2025, Sunitha was involved in the Annapuram National Park encounter, where her husband TLN Chalam was killed. She played a crucial role in ideological training and publishing party magazines such as Kranthi.
Chennuri Harish @ Ramanna, 35, a Padmashali from Bhupalpally district, held positions as Area Committee Member (Mangi–Indravelli) and KM DVC of the Telangana State Committee. He was first drawn to Maoist ideology in 2006 and, after years of personal and financial struggles, formally joined the outfit in 2020 through Damodhar’s team, later working with the Charla LOS.
By 2021, Harish was shifted to the KM DVC under SCM Bhaskar, operating in the National Park area. He took part in multiple operations across Adilabad and the National Park through 2021–22, and was injured in the December 2022 Tekametta encounter where senior Maoists Anita and Ashok were killed.
The police assured that surrendered Maoists would be rehabilitated under government schemes, with full support for livelihood and independent living. “We will strive to ensure every eligible benefit reaches you,” the statement read.
Officials highlighted that today’s youth are steering clear of unlawful activities and refusing to join extremist ranks. Recruitment into the Maoist party has virtually stopped.
Calling Maoism an “outdated ideology,” the police noted that the world has already rejected violence-driven movements. “In many countries, Maoism has disappeared. Telangana too is moving forward, leaving behind this destructive path,” they said.
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