Hyderabad: Senior naxalite leader, Maoist Party Central Committee member Jilugu Narsimha Reddy alias Jampanna along with his comrade wife Anitha on Monday surrendered before the Telangana DGP M. Mahender Reddy.

Speaking to media after the formal surrender in the presence of police, Jampanna said his decision was not influenced by any pressure but he decided to join the mainstream only because of ideological differences with the party. "The Maoist Party's ideological thinking during 1980s and later was correct in terms of fighting against feudalistic and bourgeois forces. But today, there is no feudal class as such. So many social changes are taking place in the country for the past 20 years and the party needs to take them into consideration and change its line of thinking accordingly," Jampanna said.

Jampanna, who hails from Cherlapalem village of Thorrur mandal in Mahabubabad district, joined the revolutionary students union (RSU) when he was student of ITI at Mallepally in Hyderabad in 1984 and worked his way through several positions in People War Group (PWG) and was working as the Central Committee member before the surrender. Anitha, who hails from Warangal district, is a post-graduate and joined the party in 2004. They got married in 2009 and both worked in different Dalams.

A reward of Rs25 lakh on Jampanna and Rs5 lakh on Anitha were announced as both were wanted in dozens of cases including Karakugudem police station bombing in which 17 police personnel were killed. In total, Jampanna had over Rs1 crore reward on his head while Anitha had Rs40 lakh in various states.

DGP Mahender Reddy said the Telangana government would extend all help to those joining the mainstream. The reward amount would be handed over to the surrendered naxals as they are voluntarily coming forward to leave their path of violence, the DGP said and appealed to the remaining underground leaders to join the mainstream.