Top Maoist leader Katakam Sudarshan, mastermind behind Dantewada ambush, dies

HYDERABAD: Top Maoist leader Katakam Sudarshan, aka Anand died due to ill health. The senior leader of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) Party, said to be the man behind the Dantewada ambush in which 70 CRPF personnel were killed, carried a reward of over Rs 1 crore on his head.

According to a party press release on Sunday, Katakam Sudarshan died of natural causes in Chhattisgarh forests on May 31, 2023. The party also released the latest photo of the deceased leader who was one of the top members of the CPI(Maoist) politburo. 

Sudarshan took over the reins of the Maoist movement after the elimination of Mallojula Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji in November 2011. Sudarshan had been playing a leading role in the Maoist movement in Telugu states and the neighbouring Chhattisgarh, particularly the Dantewada area. Sudarshan is said to be an expert in Guerrilla warfare.

He was born in Bellampally of Adilabad district in Telangana. Attracted to the philosophy of the People’s War Group (PWG) while pursuing a polytechnic course in Warangal, he joined the outfit in 1980. Touched by the plight of Adivasis, he worked for their welfare initially initially from the north Telangana region and in later years in the Dandakaranya area of Chhattisgarh.

Suspected to have planned and executed an attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh in 2013, he had faced more than 20 cases in both the Telugu states, the majority of them for murder. He is currently a member of the CPI (Maoists) central committee.