Hyderabad, February 25 When B Sumathi was seated alongside Telangana DGP B Shivadhar Reddy, as top Maoist commander Thippiri Tirupati alias Devuji and other Maoist leaders surrendered to the police, no one could have guessed that it was this saree-clad IPS officer who had played a crucial role in persuading the insurgents to give up their arms and come out of hiding.
Sumathi, who heads the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) of the Telangana Police, oversaw the long process of the Maoists joining the mainstream.
Devuji, a key member of the proscribed organization's Central Committee and a member of the Maoist party's politburo, along with another Central Committee member, Malla Raji Reddy, and two other senior Maoist cadres, formally surrendered in the presence of state DGP B Shivadhar Reddy on Tuesday.
Reddy, while addressing the media during Devuji's surrender, made a special mention of Sumathi and her team.
"They (Devuji and other Maoists) have surrendered because of the excellent efforts of Special Intelligence Branch IG Sumathi and the SIB team. They (the SIB team) played a crucial role in making them understand the prevailing circumstances and to join the mainstream," Reddy said.
The DGP also praised IGP Intelligence Vijay Kumar for his efforts.
"The SIB team carried out very professional intelligence work to ensure the surrender of the senior insurgents, as they would become "martyrs" if they lost their lives in encounters, and become "heroes" if they were arrested, whereas they would become "zeroes" if they surrendered," police sources said about the strategy behind making Maoist leaders join the mainstream.
Unlike Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Sonu, a key Maoist leader, who surrendered to the Maharashtra government last October, Devuji had no plans to leave the Maoist path, and Sumathi ensured that Devuji surrendered, police sources further said.
Sumathi, a seasoned Intelligence official, has overseen the surrender of 591 Maoist leaders and cadres to the Telangana Police over the past two years.
She played an important role in carrying out undercover operations during her earlier stint in the counter-intelligence cell, the sources said.
A 2001 batch deputy superintendent of police, Sumathi, was first posted in Warangal (then in undivided Andhra Pradesh) and was conferred IPS in 2006. She also worked as DIG, CID (Women Protection Cell).