Top Naxal, wife surrender in Andhra

Top Maoist leader and spokesperson for the Dandakaranya special zonal committee (SZC) Gumudavelli Venkatakrishna Prasad alias Gudsa Usendi, 53, and his wife Raji surrendered before the special intelligence branch (SIB) of Andhra Pradesh Police Wednesday. The SIB, however, did not officially confirmed his surrender or arrest.
After holding various positions in the CPI (Maoist) in Chhattisgarh, Prasad, who hails from Kadivendi village in Warangal district, was appointed spokesperson for the Dandakaranya SZC about five years ago. His surrender is a big blow to the Maoists as he oversaw many operations in Chhattisgarh, including the Bastar ambush on a convoy of Congress leaders in which 27 people were killed.
Nicknamed ‘Phantom’ for his stealth, he carried a reward of Rs 15 lakh on his head.
Like Azad, Gudsa Usendi is a pseudonym given to all SZC spokespersons. The real Gudsa Usendi was a 17-year-old Maoist killed in a police operation in Abujmarh in June 2000. A Facebook page says “Gudsa Usendi never dies, Phantom of Dantewada”.
Prasad left home after graduation at 20 to join the former People’s War Group. He went underground and spent the past 30-odd years in the forests of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Well-read and intelligent, Prasad is known for his ingenious methods of delivering messages, statements and press releases to the media and political leaders — emails from ghost IP addresses, notes stuck on doors, propaganda CDs appearing in chambers of MLAs.
He also released the statement claiming responsibility for the May 25, 2013, Bastar ambush in which Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and senior leaders Mahendra Karma and V C Shukla were killed with 24 others.
Highly regarded for his soft skills, Prasad was also part of the CPI (Maoist) think tank, writing analyses on party performance and articles on strategy, tactics and reforms. He has been critical of excessive violence by Maoists and advocated killing as a last resort. He became more prominent after Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji was killed in an encounter with the police in West Bengal in November 2011.
Sources said Prasad fell out with the CPI (Maoist) leadership after he severely criticised the Bastar ambush. He had claimed that he ordered the ambush but regretted the result. He said innocent people were killed when the target was only the political leaders.
Sources said Prasad was sidelined in recent months as differences developed among members of the Dandakaranya SZC and the CPI (Maoist) central committee.