A senior leader of the banned CPI (Maoist), Korra Kumari (26) alias Swetha, surrendered before Superintendent of Police B. Krishna Rao and CRPF Commandant Kavindra Kumar Chand here on Saturday.
A native of Mettaguda village of G.K. Veedhi mandal in Visakhapatnam Agency, Swetha had joined the movement about 11 years ago. She had risen to the rank of area committee member (ACM).
Swetha had earlier been inducted into the Galikonda dalam. She was later moved to the Peddabayalu Area Committee.
With a reward of ₹4 lakh on her head, Swetha was allegedly involved in about 46 offences, which included six murders, and five exchanges of fire, including the ones at Teegalametta in June this year and Landulu in July last. She was also allegedly involved in two landmine blasts, three arsons and two kidnappings.
At the time of her surrender, she was wielding a self loading rifle (SLR).
Swetha was allegedly involved in the murder of Gemmili Krishna Rao at Vakapalli and Chikkudu Satish at Inupateegalu.
She is also the niece of the dreaded Maoist leader, Gemmili Narayana Rao alias Jambri, who had been killed in an exchange of fire in 2017.
Reasons
Speaking to the media, Swetha cited ill-health, fear of being killed or arrested due to heightened combing activity by the security forces, and discord between the tribal and non-tribal Maoist leaders as the reasons for her surrender.
“When I joined the movement, the activities were different. I was motivated to bring a change. As days passed by, I was disillusioned by the way the movement was progressing. I am now keen on joining the mainstream and be a part of the development process in the tribal areas,” she said.
Mr. Krishna Rao said there had been about 29 surrenders since the last two years, including the ones of Krishna and Sudheer.