HYDERABAD

Miyapur police arrested one of the most wanted Maoist leaders, Narla Sri Vidya, from New Hafeezpet, on Thursday.

She is a State Committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist) party and also part of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) and EDC.

According to police, the arrest was made following credible intelligence inputs. Sri Vidya has been underground for years and was actively involved in promoting Maoist ideology across tribal regions of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Originally from Tirumalapuram village in Nagarkurnool district, Sri Vidya completed her B.Tech from JNTU, Hyderabad. She comes from a family with deep links to the Maoist movement. Her brother Narla Ravi Sharma was arrested in 2009 for Maoist activities, while her sister Narla Sridevi also worked for the outfit. She is married to Takkallapally Vasudeva Rao, alias Ashanna or Satish, a State Committee Member of DKSZC who is the prime accused in the assassination of IPS officer Umesh Chandra and the Alipiri blast case.

Sri Vidya joined the then CPI (ML), PWG in 1992, allegedly influenced by her brother. She began her work with Chaitanya Mahila Samakhya, a frontal organisation, and formally joined the banned CPI (Maoist) in 2006. Over the years, she rose through the ranks from Area Committee Member (ACM) to District Committee Member (DCM), and eventually to the position of State Committee Member (SCM).

Police said that she played a significant role in spreading Maoist propaganda among tribal children and youth in Vishakapatnam, Malkangiri and Koraput districts. Her activities reportedly led to the recruitment of numerous Adivasi youth from Narayanpur, Kanker, Dantewada, Bijapur and Sukma districts in Chhattisgarh into the banned outfit.

She is also named in a criminal conspiracy case registered in 2019 at L.B. Nagar police station. A reward of ₹5 lakh had been announced by the Telangana government for information leading to her arrest. Further investigation is on.