Abhay, a hitherto unknown name in the Maoist hierarchy, has reportedly replaced the slain politburo member Cherukuri Rajakumar alias Azad as the official spokesperson of the CPI (Maoist) central committee.
Azad, who was the intellectual face of the Maoists, was allegedly killed in an encounter with the police in the Adilabad forest, Andhra Pradesh, on June 29. And since then, the party has been struggling to fill the void.
There were a few statements recently from the Maoists’ regional committee spokespersons, such as Ajay of the north regional committee and Gudsa Usendi of the Dandakaranya regional committee.
But there has been no official comment from the Maoists on Azad’s replacement.
Intelligence sources, however, suspect that Abhay is none other than Mallojula Venugopal alias Sonu, the younger brother of the dreaded Maoist leader Mallojula Koteshwara Rao alias Kishenji.
“ Venugopal is also a central committee member and has been one of the members of the Maoist think tank. He has been leading the attacks on the security and paramilitary forces in Chhattisgarh and has a command in adapting to modern technology,” an official said.
In fact, it was Venugopal who had sent a condolence message for Azad on the occasion of his funeral and called upon the people to observe a week- long protest, besides the nationwide bandh on July 13 and 14.
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