With surrender of Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu, Maoists suffer setback to ideology, communication and people connect

A B.Com graduate hailing from Peddapalli in Telangana, Sonu is the brother of slain Maoist leader Mallojula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, who was killed in 2011. “Sonu and others were inspired by the Radical Students Union and the People’s War Group,” an intelligence source said.

“Sonu used to have ties with the outside world. He used to be the connect with Maoist sympathisers and frontal organisations. With his exit, it is clear that the Maoist party has suffered a setback,” an intelligence official said.

Sonu’s surrender comes after an ideological split in the Maoist party came to light in the form of a to-and-fro of letters. Sonu had issued letters stating that it is time for “cessation of armed struggle” to “save the party”.

Sonu’s first letter was widely discussed and criticised by the party ranks, with a section of the Central Committee and Telangana State Committee of the party condemning his approach and even calling him a “traitor”.

The next letter appeared to be a response to Telangana State Committee spokesperson Jagan’s letter dated September 19, which advocated continuing the armed struggle.

Sonu was appointed as a CPI(Maoist) spokesperson in 2010. He has many other aliases like Abhay, Bhupati, Vivek and Rajan. He came from a poor family, and his father and grandfather were freedom fighters.

Sonu studied at the Government Degree College at Peddapalli and joined the People’s War Group in the 1980s.

After his brother, who was leading operations in Lalgarh in West Bengal, was shot dead, the party asked Sonu to take over the Lalgarh operations. His mother, Madhuramma, passed away in October 2022 at their home in Peddapalli. Last December, his wife, Vimala Sidam alias Tara, surrendered before Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. She, too, had joined the Maoists 30 years ago and had risen to become a member of the Dandaranya Special Zonal Committee.

His three letters, written in Telugu, came after the Maoists suffered heavy losses in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. After writing the first letter, Rao is alleged by his comrades to have encouraged several Telangana-based cadres to surrender in the Bhadradri-Kothagudem and Mulugu area.

On April 5, 86 cadres, some of whom were Area Committee Members, including 20 women, surrendered before Bhadradri-Kothagudem police. Following his lead, last Friday, three senior Maoists surrendered before the newly appointed Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) B Shivadhar Reddy.