Hyderabad, March 10 In the wake of declining Maoist activities in Telangana, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has hinted that senior police officials should consider scaling down the staff of the Greyhounds, a specialized commando force that deals with the problem of Left-Wing Extremists.
Speaking at the 'Telangana Police Retreat 2026' event of the state police on Monday, Reddy said that the 1,200 staff working in Greyhounds can be relocated to other wings of the Police department.
"You have 1,200 well-trained people in the Greyhounds. With combing and other activities decreasing, they can be reallocated to other places (wings of the police department)."
Reddy asked, "If there are sanctioned posts for a particular purpose and when that purpose is resolved, what is the use of continuing that staff in that department?"
Ahead of the March 31 deadline set by the Centre, as many as 130 Maoists, including some women cadres, surrendered before Revanth Reddy here on March 7.
"Now there is no Telangana state committee of Maoists. It has completely disappeared," the DGP had then told reporters.
On February 24, top Maoist commander and the key "strategist" of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit, Thippiri Tirupati, also known as Devuji, also surrendered before the Telangana police, after over four decades of underground life.
Besides Devuji, another central committee member, Malla Raji Reddy, and two other ultras -- Bade Chokka Rao @ Jagan and Nune Narasimha Reddy @ Ganganna also laid down their arms.
A senior police official of Telangana said that there have been deliberations within the department on the issues of Greyhounds, and no decision has been taken yet.
“Even if the force is reduced, the services of the commandos can be used in some other wing of the police,” the official said.
The official said that the packages offered to surrendered Maoists are implemented in letter and spirit in Telangana.
However, Reddy’s suggestion did not receive any enthusiasm from retired senior police officials.
They said that the sudden slashing of the workforce from Greyhounds could lead to multiple problems, as there may be a shortage of trained personnel in future in case of requirement.
“You can not remove the entire wing at once. If the government wants to reduce, they can do it in a phased manner, assessing the situation,” a retired DGP told