Kin of two Maoist leaders file Habeas Corpus petition in High Court

A Division Bench of the High Court (HC) comprising Justices C. Manavendranath Roy and Tuhin Kumar Gedela heard a Habeas Corpus petition filed by the kin of CPI (Maoist) central committee members Thippiri Tirupati alias Devuji and Malla Raji Reddy on Thursday (November 20) and posted it for further hearing on November 21.

Devuji’s brother Gangadhar and Raji Reddy’s daughter Snehalatha approached the HC claiming that the two Maoists are under illegal police detention and they should be produced before the court.  Appearing for the petitioners, advocates U.D. Jai Bhima Rao, G. Rohith and D. Suresh Kumar argued that the CPI Maoist leaders were detained by A.P. Police on November 18 and they must be produced before the HC, otherwise they could be subjected to harm. They submitted to the court that the Additional DGP announced the detention of the Maoists in a press conference. 

On being informed by the special government pleader concerned that neither Tirupati nor Raji Reddy was detained, the court told the petitioners to provide proof of the reports/videos of police statements in that regard. It was stated that there is a serious and immediate threat to the life and bodily integrity of the detenues at the hands of the police given the recent and deeply troubling pattern of custodial violations and alleged extra – judicial killings in the context of anti-Maoist operations. 

The circumstances in which Maoists Gajarla Ravi, Aruna and Anju were killed in Maredumilli forests on June 18, 2025, and the latest incidents suggest that these are ‘custodial killings’, the advocates pointed out. The basic contention is that the detention of Tirupati and Raji Reddy and not producing them before the jurisdictional magistrate within the mandated 24 hours is a violation of Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution.