Raipur: Sudhakar, a senior leader of the banned CPI (Maoist) and a central committee member (CCM) who had taken part in peace talks with the Andhra Pradesh government 21 years ago, was killed in an encounter in the forests of Bijapur district on Thursday.
After the encounter, security forces recovered a body along with an AK-47 rifle, arms, ammunition, and explosives, and later identified it as Sudhakar — one of the highest-ranking Maoist leaders operating in central India, who carried a bounty of ₹1 crore.
Born in Pragadavaram village of Chintalapudi mandal in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru district (formerly West Godavari), Tentu Lakshmi Narasimha Chalam alias Goutham alias Sudhakar studied at CR Reddy College in Eluru and later enrolled in an Ayurvedic medicine course in Vijayawada, which he eventually left to join the Maoist movement.
Over the years, he climbed the ranks, serving as secretary of the Andhra-Odisha border special zonal committee (AOBSZC) from 2001 to 2003. He was promoted to the CPI (Maoist)’s central committee in 2021 and was in charge of the party’s core ideological training unit, known as RePOS (Revolutionary Political School).
Sudhakar’s wife, Kakarala Guru Smruthi alias Budri alias Samatha, is also a senior Maoist cadre and is currently believed to be working in the Mobile Political School (MoPOS).
Police sources said that for the last 17 years, Sudhakar operated largely from the Abujhmad region of Bastar, overseeing the party’s ideological indoctrination programmes and managing high-level strategic communications within the party.
As per police records, he was involved in several violent incidents in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is named in at least four serious criminal cases across Sileru, Makkuva, Elwinpeta, and Annavaram police jurisdictions, ranging from murder and dacoity to use of explosives and unlawful assembly.
Sudhakar’s killing comes just two weeks after CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju was gunned down in Narayanpur. With Sudhakar’s death, security agencies believe the Maoist movement in central India has suffered another major ideological and organisational blow.
Inspector general of police, Bastar Range, Sundarraj P, confirmed the identity of the deceased and termed it a significant success. “Sudhakar was not only a senior commander but also the ideological mentor for new recruits. His elimination will disrupt their internal structure and morale,” the IG said.