Gadchiroli: Senior Naxalite Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi surrendered before police along with 60 other cadres in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, officials said on Tuesday. One of the influential strategists in the banned organisation, Bhupathi, a member of the central committee and politburo, carried a bounty of Rs 6 crore, the officials said.

They said the Naxals turned themselves in before the police around 10 pm on Monday. The cadres were brought to the Gadchiroli police headquarters in police vehicles from Hodri village, where they surrendered with 54 weapons, the officials said. The seized weapons include seven AK-47s and nine INSAS rifles, the officials added.

The surrendered cadres include a member of the central committee, three Dandkaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) members and 10 members of a divisional committee of the outlawed CPI-Maoist, the officials said.

According to sources, Venugopal, alias Bhupathi alias Sonu, was considered one of the most influential strategists in the Maoist organisation and had long supervised platoon operations along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border. However, growing differences between him and the top Naxal leadership in the recent months led to an internal conflict. Bhupathi had claimed that the armed struggle failed and appealed for a shift towards peace and dialogue, citing diminishing public support and the loss of hundreds of cadres.