A dreaded leader and platoon commander of the banned extreme Left organisation, the CPI (Maoist), Ravula Ranjith alias Srikanth, today surrendered himself to Telangana DGP M Mahender Reddy.
Speaking on the matter, the DGP said that Ranjith had surrendered as he was being unable to cope with the problems he was facing in the banned party. He said that the police would provide financial aid of Rs 4 lakh to Ranjith on behalf of the state government.
Talking about the Maoist leader's life, the DGP revealed, "Ranjith was born to Ramanna and Savithri. He spent his entire childhood amidst Maoists in Chhattisgarh as his father was a member of the Maoist Central Committee and the secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. Then, Ranjith himself joined the People's War group in 2017 on the advice of his father. The 23-year-old was secretly taught by one Nagesh who helped him successfully complete his tenth class exams. But after Ramanna passed away due to health issues two years ago, Ranjith has been facing a lot of problems. His own health has also begun to fail. That is why he decided to surrender in order to return to the mainstream. His party colleagues, however, do not approve of his decision."
Reports say that Ranjith was involved in four major attacks on security forces and one failed ambush between 2018 and 2021. His mother, Madivi Savitri, is also a Maoist. She is a Divisional Committee Member.