Maoist leader Pothula Padmavathi surrenders

New Delhi: Pothula Padmavathi, one of the senior-most leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist), surrendered before the director general of police in Telangana on Saturday, after remaining underground for 43 years.

Also known as Kalpana, Mynakka, Mainabai and Sujatha, Padmavathi was a member of the central committee and secretariat, and secretary of the south sub-zonal bureau of the organisation. She was also in-charge of Janathana Sarkar, the Maoists' parallel governance system under the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee.

Aged 62 years, Padmavathi hails from Penchikalpadu village of Telangana's Jogulamba Gadwal district. One of her brothers had briefly worked with the CPI (ML) People's War Group in 1982.


She was married to Maoist leader Mallojula Koteshwar Rao, also known as Kishanji, who served as a central committee member and secretary of the West Bengal state committee. Kishanji was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in West Midnapore, West Bengal, in November 2011. The couple have one daughter. Padmavathi entered the movement in December 1982 while studying at the Government Junior College in Gadwal.