Overview
- Barse Deva, the acting head of PLGA Battalion 1, laid down arms before Telangana DGP B Shivadhar Reddy in Hyderabad, according to officials.
- He emerged as a senior battlefield leader after Madvi Hidma was killed in an encounter on November 18, 2025 in Andhra Pradesh.
- Reports say about 15 Maoist cadres surrendered alongside Deva, though some accounts put the number at 19, and the group was brought to Hyderabad after crossing from Chhattisgarh.
- Authorities say Deva is in police custody and will be presented to the media during a Saturday news conference.
- Telangana Police cite the surrender as further evidence of the CPI (Maoist)'s decline, noting 509 cadres surrendered in 2025, while unverified social-media claims of an earlier capture persist.