Hyderabad: Nakka Susheela Rani (57), a CPI (ML) People’s War and CPI (Maoist) leader who spent 34 years underground, surrendered before Nizamabad commissioner of police P Sai Chaitanya on Tuesday. Known by aliases including Latha, Lalitha, Rela, Jyothi, Madhavi and Swetha, she worked as a divisional committee member and a member of the education department committee of the Maad divisional committee in Chhattisgarh.Police said Susheela, a native of Shakkar Nagar in Bodhan, joined the banned outfit in 1992 and remained underground until 2025, when intensified operations forced her to relocate to an urban area. She studied in Hyderabad, completed a BSc at Vanitha Junior and Degree College, and enrolled on a BEd course but did not appear for the final examinations.While pursuing her studies, she came into contact with CPI (ML) People’s War leader Sunkara Rammohan Rao through her cousin in Hyderabad. Influenced by him, she joined the movement. The two married in July 1990 and went underground in Feb 1992.Susheela initially worked in the organisation’s Hyderabad technical wing before being shifted to Nalgonda district. Over the years, she served in several assignments across Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. She became an area committee member in 1996 and was promoted as a divisional committee member in 2002. Her responsibilities centred on political education and cadre training. She worked with Mobile Academic and Mobile Political School teams and, after 2009, served on the education department committee in Dandakaranya. She headed the Basic Communist Training School and conducted political classes for cadres in several divisional committees.One of the most significant incidents in her underground life occurred in April 1998 in the Nallamala forest. Police said a colleague, Somla Nayak, collected the weapons of sleeping cadres and opened fire with an AK-47. Two cadres were killed, and Susheela suffered bullet injuries to her chest and leg. Another woman cadre, Shantakka, was also shot and died while fleeing. Susheela survived by hiding among boulders and realised the attack had been carried out by her colleague rather than the police. After allegedly being attacked with a stone, she pretended to be dead. She survived in the forest for a week before receiving help and undergoing surgery.Police said she was involved in several encounters between 2001 and 2024. Her first husband, Rammohan Rao, was killed in an encounter in 2001. Her second husband, state committee member Samala Venkateshwarlu alias Sudershan, was killed in 2006.After being moved to an urban area in March 2025, Susheela decided to surrender. Police said a firearm injury had left her with a rod in her thigh, affecting her ability to continue in the Maoist military wing. Under the Telangana govt’s rehabilitation policy, she received ₹5 lakh in reward benefits and ₹25,000 interim relief. Police noted that 266 Maoist cadres have surrendered in Telangana so far in 2026, taking the total since 2024 to 824.
