Date:10/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/10/stories/2007081061020500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Octogenarian’s long search for son ends

SUBBAREDDIGUDEM (NALGONDA DT.): Gajjela Sayamma, an octogenarian, has been in search of her son for 27 long years. Finally her dream has come true when she met Satti Reddy alias Gopanna in jail in Chhattisgarh with the help of police on August 1.“Jailla iddaram kaasepu yedchinam. Naa koduku naa kaadiki ravaale..mammala choodale (We both wept for sometime. I wish my son returns to village to take care of my family),” Sayamma told The Hindu.

The hardcore revolutionary in Gopanna melted away when she offered him Rs.200 as a “parting gift.” The mother’s love brought tears to the Dandakaranya Zonal Committee member of CPI (Maoist), who played a pivotal role in the recruitment of cadres. He was carrying Rs.10 lakh reward on his head.

Satti Reddy, third son of Sayamma, had gone to Hyderabad to join B.Sc. (Agriculture) course in 1981 and never returned to his village, situated in Miryalaguda mandal. “Initially I worked with Radical Students’ Union and later I was shifted to Dandakaranya,” the 47-year-old Satti Reddy told his mother. He told her about his marriage with Shantakka, deputy commander of Maoists in Koyalbedu area. Satti Reddy, who was allegedly involved in eight cases in Chhattisgarh, was put in Raipur Central Jail after being arrested by a police team there. On coming to know of her son’s arrest, Sayamma appealed to SP Vijay Kumar to help her meet her son. Sayamma was granted permission and subsequently she met him in the jail along with her eldest son and son-in-law on August 1.