Gajerla Ravi was a Native of Velishala Village in Jayashankar Bhupalpally District | Photo Credit: by Arrangement
The outlawed CPI (Maoist) has lost another top-ranking leader from Telangana following the death of 57-year-old Gajerla Ravi alias Uday — a native of Velishala village in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district — in an “Encounter” in Alluri Sitarama Raju District of Neighbound Andhra Pradesh early on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) morning.
The incident comes less than a fortnight after the death of the CPI (Maoist) Telangana State committee member, MaILAPU adelu alias bhaskarof Pocherla village in Adilabad district, in an “exchange of fire” in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on June 5, 2025.
Joined PWG in early 1990s
Ravi, who joined the People’s War Group (PWG) in early 1990s, rose up the ranks of the outfit to become a member of the apex body of the CPI (Maoist). He had been underground for nearly three decades.
He held key positions including the secretary of the PWG’s Karimnagar-Khammam-Warangal (KKW) division in the mid-1990s, before moving to the Andhra Odisha Border (AOB) region, sources said.
Ravi was one of the maoist leaders who participated in the peace talks with the then Congress government in united Andhra Pradesh in 2004, which eventually failed.
His two brothers also worked in naxalite movement
His two brothers – Gajerla Saraiah alias Azad and Gajerla Ashok alias Aithu also worked in the naxalite movement. Saraiah was one of the key maoist leaders from north Telangana. He was killed in an “encounter” with the police in Eturunagaram forest area in the erstwhile Warangal district in 2008. Ashok, who was active in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar region, surrendered to the police in Warangal in 2015.
As the news of Ravi’s death spread in Velishala, grief engulfed his family members and relatives in his native village.
Published – June 18, 2025 05:14 PM is
