Raipur: Amid intense speculations that legendary Maoist ideologue Ganapathy alias Muppala Laxmana Rao may either have surrendered or been arrested, Chhattisgarh police brass believe that his neutralization, if it happens, holds little significance for the ‘crumbling’ Naxal movement now.
“The banned CPI (Maoist) structure has virtually crumbled with the elimination or neutralization of most of its top and middle-level leaders. Hence, Ganapathy’s arrest or surrender, if it happens, holds little significance for the Maoist movement now”, a senior police officer, associated with planning and executing counterinsurgency strategy in Chhattisgarh, told this newspaper on Thursday, on condition of anonymity.
‘Ganapathy, who should be in his early 70s now, has been out of action since the last five-six years and is ill. He may have chosen a safe hideout ‘to take shelter, not to involve him with insurgency anymore’, the police officer said.
Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah along with top level police officers of his state at New Delhi on Wednesday night has triggered the speculations on the possible arrest or surrender of Ganapathy.
“We are not in a position to either confirm or deny the speculations on Ganapathy’s arrest or surrender since Chhattisgarh police is not involved in the matter. We cannot confirm if other state agencies or the Central agency is involved with the issue”, a senior police officer here said, unwilling to be quoted.
‘Ganapathy’s arrest or surrender will only serve the purpose of taking the counterinsurgency into its logical conclusion, nothing else, now’. the police officer said.
According to him, as general secretary of CPI (Maoist) for around 25 years, Ganapathy built the outlawed outfit’s structure and bases ‘brick by brick’ in Dandakaranya region, particularly Bastar in Chhattisgarh.
He had moved out of the conflict zone and taken shelter in a safe hideout either in an urban or rural area, intelligence sources said.
Ganapathy’s whereabouts has remained a mystery ever since he handed over the reins of CPI (Maoist) to Basavaraju alias Nambala Keshava Rao in February 2017.
Basavaraju was slain in an encounter with security forces in Abujhmad under Narayanpur district in south Bastar on May 21, 2025.
His killing, the first Maoist boss to have been eliminated in the four-decade- long history of Leftwing Extremism in the country, had triggered the collapse of the outlawed outfit.
Ganapathy, who was made general secretary of the then CPI ML People’s War in June 1992, had played a key role in its merger with the Maoist Communist Centre of India in 2004 to form the CPI (Maoist).
The CPI (Maoist) under his two and half decades long leadership had spread its base to 157 districts across the country.
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