Mallojula Venugopal, commonly known by his ''

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

'' Abhay, is a

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

and Central Military Commission member of the

Communist Party of India (Maoist) The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a banned Marxist–Leninist-Maoist communist political party and militant organization in India which aims to overthrow the Republic of India through protracted people's war. It was founded on 21 S ...

, a

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

communist party in India.

Family

Venugopal is the younger brother of another Maoist guerrilla leader

Kishenji Mallojula Koteswara Rao (26 November 1954 – 24 November 2011), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Kishenji (), was an Indian maoist leader who was a Politburo and Central Military Commission member of the Communist Party of India (Maois ...

. He was born into a poor family in Peddapalli in

Karimnagar district Karimnagar district, also known as Elagandula district, is one of the 33 districts of the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar city is its administrative headquarters. The district shares boundaries with Peddapalli district, Peddapalli, Jagitya ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

which eked out a living on priesthood in nearby temples. His grandfather and father Mallujola Venkataiyan both were

Indian freedom fighters The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of many methods. This is a li ...

. Venugopal left home for more than 30 years after joining

Left wing extremism Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

. His wife Tarakka, surrendered before Maharashtra chief minister Fadnavis on 31 December 2024.

Activities

Venugopal, a former Peoples War Group leader who is also known as ''Bhupati'', ''Sonu'', ''Master'' and ''Abhay'' was the Chief of the Maoist's

Dandakaranya Dandakaranya (), also rendered Dandaka (, IAST: ), is a historical region and the name of a forest mentioned in the ancient Indian epic ''Ramayana''. It covers about of land, which includes the Abujhmar Hills in the west and borders the East ...

Special Zonal committee which includes Garchirouli area of state of

Maharastra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to the s ...

. He was appointed for formation of a new guerrilla zone in the

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

which controls areas on either side of Western Ghats, from

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

Idukki Idukki (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district co ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. He was also deputed as the official spokesperson of CPI (Maoist) after the death of Cherukuri Rajkumar (Azad) in 2010. Venugopal took charge of publication division of the party. Police intelligence suspect he is one of the brains behind the

April 2010 Maoist attack in Dantewada The April 2010 Dantewada Maoist attack was an 6 April 2010 ambush by Naxalite-Maoist insurgents from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) near Chintalnar village in Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh, India, leading to the killing of 76 CR ...

that killed 76 jawans of

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The CRPF assists states and Union Territories in maintaining law and order and internal security. It is composed of the Cent ...

. Both Andhra Pradesh and Chhattishgarh Police have declared hefty amounts on his head. After the death of Kisenji, his party appointed him to lead Lalgarh area movement in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

against Operation Green Hunt.

References

Anti-revisionists Communist Party of India (Maoist) politicians Indian guerrillas Indian Marxists Naxalites People from Karimnagar district {{India-bio-stub