Patel Sudhakar Reddy, aliases Suryam, Damodar, and Venkatesh, (1950s – 24 May 2009) was a leader of the central committee of the

Communist Party of India (Maoist) The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a Marxism–Leninism–Maoism, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist banned Communism, communist political party and militant organization in India which aims to overthrow the "semi-colonial and semi-feudal In ...

Early life

Reddy was born in Kurthiravulacheruvu village in

Mahbubnagar district Mahabubnagar district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. Mahabubnagar is the district headquarters which is popularly known as Palamoor. The district shares boundaries with Narayanapet, Vikarabad, Rangareddy, Nagarkurnool, Wanapa ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

(now in

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

). Reddy joined the Radical Students Union in

Gadwal Gadwal is a City and the district headquarters of Jogulamba Gadwal district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is located from the state capital Hyderabad And 59 km From Kurnool and is a state assembly constituency. Gadwal historicall ...

area in 1981. He passed engineering with a gold medal from

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate public state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farman to establish OSMANIA UNIVERSITY on the day of 28 August 1918. It ...

. Later he joined the

Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War, usually called People's War Group (PWG), was an underground communist party in India. It merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India to form the Communist Party of India (Maois ...

which later became the Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Politics

In 1983, Sudhakar Reddy moved to the

Eturnagaram Eturnagaram is a village and a mandal in Mulugu district in the state of Telangana in India. Dolmen There is a megalithic dolmen graves site near Eturnagaram in Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary. . Wildlife sanctuary The mandal area is surrou ...

Mahadevpur Mahadevpur is a village in Mahadevpur mandal in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district of Telangana, India. It is located in the north-east of the district near the border with Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. The mandal has borders with Maharashtra i ...

forest in north

as commander of a guerrilla squad. Later his Party transferred him to Gadchiroli district until his arrest in 1992 in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and seven-year imprisonment. After his release in 1998 he returned to Naxalism in

Dandakaranya Dandakaranya is a historical region in India, mentioned in the Ramayana. It is identified with a territory roughly equivalent to the Bastar division in the Chhattisgarh state in the central-east part of India. It covers about of land, which inc ...

and then Andhra Pradesh. In 2005 he was elected to his party's Central Committee as well as central military commission.

Andhra Pradesh Police The Andhra Pradesh Police is the law enforcement agency of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Public order and police being a state subject in India, the police force is headed by the Director general of police, Kasireddy Rajendranadh Reddy ...

accused Reddy of being involved in several major crimes including the murders of Home Minister

Alimineti Madhava Reddy Alimineti Madhava Reddy (28 February 1949 – 7 March 2000) was an Indian politician from the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was elected four times to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Bhongir (Assembly constituency), Bhongir constituen ...

Greyhounds The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

founder

K. S. Vyas Kota Srinivas Vyas was an Andhra Pradesh Cadre Indian Police Service officer of the 1974 batch. He is known for founding the Greyhounds police unit. Career K. S. Vyas was the first superintendent of police for the Vijayawada Urban district, wh ...

, IPS officer Umesh Chandra, and the attempted murder of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...

in 2003. He was also accused in the

Balimela reservoir boat attack The Balimela reservoir boat attack occurred on 29 June 2008 when Communist Party of India (Maoist) forces ambushed a boat on the Balimela Reservoir in Orissa, India carrying 60 Greyhounds commandos, 5 police officers, and a boat operator. The b ...

which killed 38 people.

Death

Sudhakar Reddy was killed during a combing operation by Andhra Police in

Warangal district Warangal district, formerly Warangal Rural district, is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district shares boundaries with Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Hanamkonda, Mulugu and Bhupalpally districts. As of June 2021, Hanamkonda tentativ ...

on 24 May 2009. Another senior Maoist leader Venkataiah, a district committee member of the

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

unit, was also killed in the encounter. Police had gone to the Lavella forest area in Tadwai mandal of Warangal district after receiving specific intelligence regarding the presence of Maoists in the area. District Superintendent of Police V.C. Sajjanar stated that the team located around 25 Maoists in Durgam Gutta in Lavella forest. Sajjanar claimed that police asked them to surrender, but they refused and fired at police. Sajjnar stated that a gunfight ensued for the next 30 minutes between police and Maoists. After the firing came to a halt, police searched the area and discovered the bodies of Reddy and Venkataiah. The CPI (Maoist) alleged that the encounter was staged by the police and that Sudhakar Reddy was arrested near the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border and shot dead in

References

External links

Maoist top leader Sudhakara Reddy gunned down in encounter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Patel Sudhakar 2009 deaths Telugu people Communist Party of India (Maoist) politicians Year of birth missing Indian guerrillas Naxalite–Maoist insurgency People shot dead by law enforcement officers in India Osmania University alumni People from Mahbubnagar district Anti-revisionists 1950s births