Hyderabad: Senior Maoist leaders Sanjeev alias Lengu Dada and his wife Parvati alias Deena surrendered before Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Sudheer Babu on Thursday, ending nearly four decades in the underground movement.

Sanjeev, a native of Yapral in Medchal-Malkajgiri district, joined the CPI (ML) People’s War in 1980 and was a founding member of the Jana Natya Mandali cultural wing in Dandakaranya. Parvati served as a State Committee member, while Sanjeev held a key post in the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee Secretariat. Both operated under aliases and were considered influential figures in the Maoist cultural and propaganda apparatus.

Police confirmed that a combined reward of ₹20 lakh had been announced on the couple, which will now be disbursed as part of the state’s surrender and rehabilitation package. Rachakonda CP urged remaining underground cadres to abandon violence and return to village life, reiterating the Telangana government’s support for reintegration through livelihood and welfare schemes.

CP Sudheer Babu noted that public sentiment has turned against the ideology of violence, and warned of continued surveillance on those disrupting peace under the guise of civil society activism. He said legal action will follow any attempts to destabilise public order.

Sanjeev was once closely associated with slain revolutionary balladeer Gaddar and evaded capture during a 2002 encounter in Ailapur. During Thursday’s press briefing, police appealed to remaining Maoists in Telangana to follow suit—“Give up the gun, embrace the village.”