Wife's arrest reignites hunt for Ashanna, India's most elusive Maoist commander
A senior cadre of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), Sri Vidya's arrest has turned the spotlight back on Ashanna—a top strategist and executioner in the Maoist insurgency who has eluded capture for over three decades.
According to intelligence sources, Ashanna, also called Rupesh, is now believed to be operating from the dense Abujhmadh forests in Chhattisgarh, continuing to direct lethal guerrilla operations across central India.
His reputation as a master tactician and bomb-maker is matched only by his ability to vanish into the forested terrain, evading even the most sophisticated security crackdowns.
A life in rebellion
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Born in Polonipalli village in Warangal (now Mulugu district), Ashanna hailed from a middle class Velama family. After studying at an ITI Polytechnic, he joined the People's War Group (PWG) in 1991. Within a decade, he was involved in over 48 criminal cases in Warangal district alone, including attacks on police stations and sabotage of railway lines.
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His meteoric rise began with his appointment as head of the PWG's action team in Hyderabad in 1999. A decade later, he was inducted into the CPI (Maoist) central committee. Intelligence sources suspect that he may have been elevated as a Central Committee member. However, Ashanna, in an interview said he is in-charge of the North-West Sub-Zonal Committee of Dandakaranya of CPI (Maoist).
Fluent in Telugu, Hindi, and Gondi, Ashanna carries an AK-47 and a ₹20 lakh bounty declared by the Telangana govt.
High-profile killings
Ashanna's name comes to mind in some of the most audacious and politically destabilising Maoist strikes. He masterminded the 2000 landmine attack that killed then Andhra Pradesh home minister A Madhava Reddy, and the daylight gunning down of IPS officer KS Umesh Chandra in Hyderabad in 1999.
His sensational strike came in 2003—a failed assassination attempt on then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Alipiri ghat road, near Tirupati, using claymore mines.
Though Naidu survived, the attack marked a turning point in the state's anti-Naxal policy.
Ashanna was also linked to multiple assassination attempts on ex-CM N Janardhan Reddy in 2003 and 2007. In the latter attack, three aides were killed. Forensics pointed to his trademark use of remote-detonated landmines.
He is suspected of involvement in the 2019 IED blast in Gadchiroli that killed 15 Maharashtra policemen and had even allegedly camped in Delhi to plot a high-level assassination before escaping a police raid.
Ashanna has also served as a military trainer at the Buniyadi Communist Training School in Dandakaranya. His instruction in explosives, intelligence gathering, and ambush tactics have shaped many of the CPI (Maoist)'s current operatives. He also headed the group's military intelligence unit, guiding operations across Telangana, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh.
Despite nearly being captured in Mahbubnagar in 2010 and false reports of his death in 2018, Ashanna remains India's most wanted Maoist figure.
A tactical opening?
In a joint operation by the Special Intelligence Bureau and Miyapur police, Sri Vidya was arrested from a rented house in Hafeezpet, Hyderabad. A senior member of the Dandakaranya state committee, she too carried a ₹20 lakh reward. Maoist literature and a laptop were seized, but no solid intelligence on Ashanna has surfaced yet.
"We believe he may now go deeper into the forests or shift entirely," said an officer. Still, security forces are hopeful the arrest might offer the breakthrough they've sought for over three decades. However, in a recent interview to the media, Ashanna has put forth truce proposal and a ceasefire to govt following the Kagar encounter killings.
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