Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), November 19 (PTI) — Surrendered Naxal leader Malloju Venu Gopal Rao, widely known as Bhupathi, on Wednesday appealed to the cadre of the banned CPI (Maoist) to give up armed struggle and join the mainstream.
Bhupathi, a former spokesperson of the banned organisation, made the appeal a day after top Maoist commander Hidma was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh.
The Gadchiroli Police released a video message by Bhupathi, who had surrendered on October 15 along with 60 other Naxals.
Referring to the death of Hidma and five others, Bhupathi said, “For the past few days, we have been hearing news of encounters. This is a very worrying matter.”
He further said, “We gave up the armed struggle about one and a half months ago because we realised that in changing circumstances, continuing the armed movement was no longer possible. Now we are working to solve people’s issues according to the Constitution.”
Bhupathi stated that the Naxal movement had suffered major setbacks due to prolonged armed conflict. Considering the changing situation, he said, “We must abandon armed struggle, join the mainstream, and work together with the people.”
Mentioning that he had made a similar appeal earlier, Bhupathi urged the Maoist cadre to consider his message seriously and “not ignore this appeal.”
