Two senior underground leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist), including a veteran woman with 40 years in the movement, surrendered to Telangana Police on Thursday.

Kakarala Sunitha alias Badri, 62, a senior member of the CPI (Maoist) State Committee and Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, and Chennuri Harish alias Ramanna, 35, an area committee member of the Telangana State Committee, surrendered before Rachakonda Police Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu.

According to police, both were motivated by the Telangana government's welfare initiatives and support for surrendered Maoists. They expressed a desire to lead peaceful lives with their families.

Sunitha, a native of Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad, was drawn to radical politics during her studies in Rajahmundry in 1985. She joined the CPI (ML) People’s War in 1986 and remained underground. Alongside her husband TLN Chalam, she worked in the Andhra–Odisha Border region and later in Dandakaranya. She played a significant role in cadre training and party publications. Her husband was killed in the June 2025 Annapuram National Park encounter.

Harish, from Bhupalpally district, was influenced by Maoist ideology in 2006 while in school and became an ACM in 2024. He was involved in multiple encounters, including in December 2022 and June 2025.

Police appealed to other Maoists in Telangana to surrender and assured full support for their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.