Top naxal couple surrender

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, AUG. 29. Disillusioned with party activities and unable to withstand the rigours of underground life, two prominent People's War functionaries -- a district committee member and his wife, a local guerrilla squad commander, belonging to Nizamabad district surrendered, before the Director-General of Police, Mr. H.J. Dora, here on Wednesday.

Attesting that the surrender of the DCM, Dayanand, alias Ramulu was ``very important,'' Mr. Dora said he was one of the most active members of the banned underground organisation since 1993.

A native of Maddikunta of Machareddy mandal, Dayanand joined as a dalam member in the Kamareddy and Siricilla dalams and went on to become the deputy commander and commander of the Sirnapally and Ellareddy dalams.

He was promoted as DCM last year and had participated in the attack on the Papannapet police station in 1999 in Medak district, a murder and was involved in an exchange of fire with police parties in the Sirnapally forest in 1998 and Gandivet in 1999. Dayanand was carrying a reward of Rs. 6 lakhs on his head.

Dayanand's wife Padma alias Limbava joined the PWG in 1996 as a Bheemgal dalam member and was recently promoted as LGS commander of the Puligubba area of the district. She also took part in the Papannapet police station attack and exchange of fire with the police and was also responsible for the killing of an ex-sarpanch in 1999. She was carrying a reward of Rs. 50,000.

Mr. Dora said Dayanand had recently escaped from a police dragnet and was involved in the plotting of the murder of important political functionaries of the district. He said the underground movement was in a total disarray with the number of surrenders touching 431 already this year as against 763 last year. The PWG was facing difficulty in fresh recruitments.

The DGP expected some more surrenders to take place from the districts of Adilabad and Karimnagar soon. He said the Nizamabad district movement had suffered several setbacks in the last few years as many active cadre were neutralised in exchange of fire and several top leaders had surrendered before the police. He said the PWG was desperately trying to regain its hold in the region through terror tactics and mass murders which, he claimed, was being protested against by its own cadre.

Setback to PWG

Our Nizamabad Staff Reporter writes:

With the surrender of the naxal couple, the PWG has suffered yet another setback.

The surrender is being termed a blow to the underground outfit. Dayanand, who started his stint in the PWG in the Kamareddy dalam in 1993 had been quite active in the Kamareddy, Sircilla, Sirnapalli and Yellareddi areas.

Considered to be a senior cadre, Dayanand's departure is certainly going to have impact on the party, particularly in the Kamareddy and Yellareddi squad areas. Involved in attack on a police station in Medak district in October 1999, Dayanand is also accused of killing two persons besides participating in two exchanges of fire.

Facing with dwindling prospects of fresh recruitments, the desertion by senior leaders is bound to demoralise the party cadre. It has been a severe setback for the PWG in the district in the last few years. Beginning with five dalams operating in 1998, the PWG has suffered major blows in the Chadmal, Sangojipet, Kanchumal Kondapur, Lolam and Rahatnagar encounters, in which three dalams were affected.

The Banswada dalam was badly affected twice in January and August 1998 and in October 1998. The party lost two DCMs and two dalam commanders. The surrenders of top district cadres was another blow to the underground outfit. Last year alone two DCMs surrendered.

The PWG is maintaining low profile for quite some time now after the killings of party militants in Manala and Rahatnagar in June. In all, eight villagers said to be militants were killed by the party on the charges that they were acting as police informants and planning covert operation to hit the top leaders.

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