Top Maoist leader RK dies; wife says suffered from kidney ailment

 Top Maoist leader Akkiraju Haragopal, alias RK, died in the forests of south Bastar in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, his wife said on Friday. A. Sirisha attributed his death to renal failure.

Sirisha, who resides in Tangutur town of Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district, said: “I received information from a party member that he died on Wednesday and his last rites were performed on Thursday. He was suffering from kidney disease but he could not consult a doctor as police kept hospitals under surveillance. He died because he was denied treatment this way.”

Maoist Central Committee spokesperson Abhay said in a statement that RK died in the early hours of October 14.

Special Intelligence Branch officials say the CPI-Maoist Central Committee Member and in-charge of Andhra Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee was an Arts graduate who worked as a teacher for a short while before joining the erstwhile People’s War Group (PWG) about 30 years ago.

He rose through the ranks, operating first in Guntur district and then moving to the Nallamala forests.

He was involved in several attacks on police stations, looting arms and ammunition and went underground.

He was also allegedly involved in the March 2000 killing of Telegu Desam Party minister A Madhav Reddy whose vehicle was blown up on the Ghatkesar overbridge in his native Bhongir in Nalgonda. RK was later appointed secretary of Andhra Pradesh State Committee of the erstwhile CPI (ML).

RK was active in the Nallamala forests till September 2004 despite major setbacks against Andhra Police’s anti-Maoist force and Greyhound commandos.

When the then Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy offered to hold peace talks, RK and 10 other Maoist leaders walked out of the forests on October 11, 2004 after
years of being on the run. The talks, however, didn’t go well and the Maoist leaders went back into the forests, and RK was never was seen again.

Sirisha, alias Padma, is herself a former Maoist. She was arrested by the Odisha Police from Dudhari in Koraput District on November 13, 2010, when she was on her way to meet RK and their son Prithvi in the forests of Koraput. Sirisha had last met them in October 2005 when she surrendered and was rehabilitated by the then Andhra Pradesh government.

Source https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/hyderabad/maoist-akkiraju-haragopal-alias-rk-death-7574180/