Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) | Senior Naxalite Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi surrendered before police along with 60 other cadres in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, officials said on Tuesday.

One of the influential strategists in the banned organisation, Bhupathi, a member of the central committee and Politburo, carried a bounty of Rs 6 crore, an official said.

He said the Naxals turned themselves in before the police around 10 pm on Monday.

The cadres were brought to the Gadchiroli police headquarters in police vehicles from Hodri village, where they surrendered with 54 weapons, he said.

The seized weapons include seven AK-47s and nine INSAS rifles, the official said.

The surrendered cadres include a member of the central committee, three Dandkaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) members and 10 members of a divisional committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), he said.

According to sources, Venugopal, alias Bhupathi alias Sonu, was considered one of the most influential strategists in the Maoist organisation and had long supervised platoon operations along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border.

However, growing differences between him and the top Naxal leadership in the recent months led to an internal conflict, they said.

Bhupathi had claimed that the armed struggle failed and appealed for a shift towards peace and dialogue, citing diminishing public support and the loss of hundreds of cadres.

His stand was met with resistance from other senior cadres who decided to continue the fight under another leader, sources said.

Under pressure from the central Naxal leadership, Bhupathi eventually agreed to lay down arms, announced his exit from the outfit, and surrendered with his followers before the Gadchiroli police, they said.

In recent months, Gadchiroli district has witnessed a steady stream of Naxalites surrendering before the police.

Bhupathi's surrender, along with 60 Naxals, is considered a major setback for the Maoist movement in the state.

Earlier this year, Bhupathi's wife, Tarakka, also surrendered. She was a member of the Dandkaranya special zonal committee of the outlawed movement.

During an event at the state police headquarters on October 3, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated that the Naxal movement in the state was on the verge of ending.

"We are on the verge of finishing Maoism. In Maharashtra, it can be finished anytime," Fadnavis had said.

Earlier this month, 103 Naxalites, 49 of them carrying a collective bounty of more than Rs 1 crore, surrendered before authorities in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, one of the largest-ever surrenders by Left-wing extremists in a single day in the state