| Photo at link |
TADVAI (WARANGAL DT.): Two top Maoist leaders -- Patel Sudhakar Reddy alias Suryam alias Srikanth and Kanugula Venkataiah -- one a Central Committee member and the other a State Committee member, were killed in an exchange of fire with the police in the early hours of Sunday on the Gaurappa hillocks near Lavvala village in the thick Tadvai forest area.According to Superintendent of Police V. C. Sajjanar, on credible information about the increased movement of naxal groups in the forest area, special party police teams were pressed into combing operations for the past two weeks. One of the parties spotted a group of naxals camping on the top of Gaurappa hillocks near Lavvala village in Tadvai mandal in the early hours of Sunday and there was a sudden exchange of fire. Two naxals were killed and the police recovered one AK 47, one 9 mm pistol, one 8 mm rifle, three kitbags, Rs. 20,000 in cash and revolutionary party literature. The deceased were identified as Patel Sudhkar Reddy (49) alias Suryam alias Venkat Reddy, native of Kurthi Ravala Cheruvu of Maldarkal mandal in Mahabubnagar district, a Central Committee member of CPI (Maoist) and the other was identified as Kanugula Venkataiah (29) alias Prasanna alias Bhujanga Reddy, native of Inapur village in Cheriyal mandal of Warangal district who was a State Committee member of the CPI (Maoist) and a member of its technical wing.
Patel Sudhakar Reddy was involved in a number of sensational murder cases, including that of former Home Minister Alimineti Madava Reddy and senior IPS officers Umesh Chandra and Vyas. He also masterminded the assassination attempts on former Chief Ministers N. Chandrababu Naidu and N. Janardhan Reddy. He played a key role in the police station attacks of Bommala Ramaram, Thirumalagiri, Eragondapalem, Yadagirigutta, Dindi and some other police stations in the State.
He was also involved in three landmine blasts at Bandlamotu and Vepanagandla, in which two SIs and 12 constables were killed. He looked after the military activities in Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra and was made member of the Central Committee.
Kanugula Venkataiah started as State Secretary of the Radical Students Union (RSU). In 1993 he went underground and worked in Cherial, Gerailpally and Nalgonda area committees. In 2006, he was taken into the technical wing of the party and was made State committee member.