Weeks after Hidma killed, most wanted Maoist commander Barse Deva surrenders

HYDERABAD/RAIPUR: Senior Maoist military commander Barse Deva alias Sainath surrendered before Telangana director general of police (DGP) B Shivadhar Reddy on Friday, people familiar with the matter said.

“Deva, who carried a cumulative reward of ₹25.47 lakh, is currently in the custody of the Telangana police. He will be produced before the media on Saturday,” a senior Telangana police officer said on conditions of anonymity.

Deva and a group of Maoist cadres crossed into Telangana from Chhattisgarh on Thursday evening and were brought to Hyderabad on Friday. About 15-17 cadres are reported to have surrendered along with him.

Deva, 45, had been serving as the in-charge of Battalion Number 1 — considered the last core fighting unit of the Maoist organisation — and has held the rank of Area Zonal Committee Member (AZCM) since 2021.

Deva was a close associate of top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, who was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh’s Maredumilli forests on November 18. Following Hidma’s death, Deva assumed a pivotal role in overseeing the Maoist party’s armed operations as the chief of its military wing, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA).

Deva and Hidma were residents of Puvarti village in Sukma that was controlled by Maoists for almost four decades until a security camp was set up in the area in February 2024.

The two have been together and planned all major attacks such as Darbha Ghati attack on May 25, 2013 when Maoists ambushed a convoy of the Congress party, killing 27 people including 10 security personnel and the infamous April 2021 attack when 22 security personnel were killed in ambush in Sukma-Bijapur.

Officials said Deva played a critical role over the years in weapons procurement, logistics, planning and coordination of armed squads, particularly in the forested regions of south Bastar, including Sukma and adjoining districts. Upon his surrender, police recovered a mounted Light Machine Gun (LMG) from his possession. Members of his military operations team also laid down arms, they added.

At the time of his surrender, Deva was considered part of the Maoist party’s top strategic trio, along with party chief Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji and Telangana state committee secretary Bade Chokka Rao alias Damodar. Senior officials described him as one of the most influential figures in the Maoist hierarchy after Hidma’s death.

Intelligence assessments indicate that Battalion Number 1 had a strength of around 130 armed cadres at one point but sustained counter-insurgency operations had significantly weakened the unit.

“There is a strong possibility that several remaining members of the battalion may also reach out to authorities and join Deva in the coming days,” an intelligence official said. The official said Deva’s surrender delivers a decisive blow to the operational backbone of the Maoist organisation.

PLGA — long regarded as the military spine of the Maoist Central Military Commission — is now widely seen as being on the verge of collapse. With Hidma’s killing and Deva’s surrender, the outfit’s capacity to carry out organised armed operations is believed to have been severely crippled.

PLGA was formed on December 2, 1999, as the People’s Guerrilla Army (PGA), on the first death anniversary of CPI (ML) People’s War Party leaders Nalla Adi Reddy alias Shyam, Erram Reddy Santosh Reddy alias Mahesh and Seelam Naresh, who were killed in the Koyyur encounter in Karimnagar district.

After the merger of CPI (People’s War) with the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) on September 21, 2004, the PGA was rechristened as the PLGA.

At its peak, the PLGA operated with around eight battalions and 13 platoons, with an estimated strength of 10,000 to 12,000 armed cadres, enabling the CPI(Maoist) to execute large-scale attacks.