Hyderabad, When B Sumathi was seated on the dais along with Telangana DGP B Shivadhar Reddy, when top Maoist commander Thippiri Tirupati alias Devuji and other Maoist leaders were surrendering before the police, no one could have guessed that it was this saree-clad woman IPS officer who had played a crucial role in persuading the ultras to give up arms and come overground.
Sumathi, who is heading the Special Intelligence Branch of the Telangana Police, oversaw the long-drawn process of the Maoists joining the mainstream.
Devuji, a key Central Committee member of the proscribed organisation and the politburo member of the Maoist party, along with another central committee member, Malla Raji Reddy, and two other senior Maoist cadre, formally surrendered in the presence of state DGP B Shivadhar Reddy on Tuesday.
Reddy, while addressing mediapersons during Devuji’s surrender, made a special mention of Sumathi and her team.
“They have surrendered because of the excellent efforts of Special Intelligence Branch IG Sumathi and the SIB team. They played a crucial role in making them understand the prevailing circumstances and to join the mainstream,” Reddy said.
The DGP also lauded IGP Intelligence Vijay Kumar in the efforts.
“The SIB team carried out a very professional intelligence work to ensure the surrender of the senior ultras as they would become “martyrs” if they would lose their lives in encounters and become “heroes” if they are arrested, whereas they would become “zeroes” if they surrendered,” police sources said about the strategy behind making Maoist leaders to join the mainstream.
Unlike Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Sonu, a key Maoist leader, who surrendered before the Maharashtra government in October last year, Devuji had no plans to leave the Maoist path, and Sumathi saw to it that Devuji surrendered, police sources further said.
Sumathi, a seasoned Intelligence official, has overseen the surrender of 591 Maoist leaders and cadres before Telangana Police over the past two years.
She played an important role in executing undercover operations during her earlier stint in the counter-intelligence cell, the sources said.
A 2001 batch deputy superintendent of police, Sumathi, was first posted in Warangal and was conferred IPS in 2006. She also worked as DIG, CID .
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
