New Delhi: From negotiating in the dense forests as an expectant mother in 2004 to orchestrating the surrender of a top Maoist leader in 2025, Telangana’s first female SIB Chief has rewritten the playbook on anti-insurgency.
Two decades ago, a young, pregnant police officer sat across from hardcore Maoist leaders deep in the forest, facilitating peace talks. Today, that same
officer has made history by orchestrating the surrender of the movement’s highest-ranking leader.
Meet B. Sumathi, IPS, the Chief of Telangana’s Special Intelligence Branch (SIB), who has proven that dialogue and rehabilitation can be far more lethal to an insurgency than bullets.
Here is how the “Iron Lady” of Telangana systematically dismantled the Maoist network, culminating in the historic surrender of top Maoist leader Tippiri Tirupati, alias Devuji.
Key Highlights of Her Historic Journey
• Duty Over Everything (The 2004 Peace Talks): In 2004, when the undivided Andhra Pradesh government initiated peace talks with Maoists, Sumathi, then a DySP, was a crucial part of the team. Despite being heavily pregnant with her first child, she refused to step down, taking her maternity leave only after the talks concluded.
• The ‘People’s Officer’: Starting her career as a 2001 batch State Service officer and earning her IPS cadre in 2010, she won hearts wherever she served. During her tenure as a DSP in Warangal, locals literally staged dharnas (protests) against her transfer, a rare testament to a police officer’s popularity.
• A Record-Breaking 591 Surrenders: Under Sumathi’s leadership as SIB Chief, a staggering 591 Maoists have laid down their arms. This includes 4 Central Committee members and 16 State Committee members, marking one of the most successful anti-Maoist campaigns in Indian history.
• Cracking Down on Global Terror: Her expertise extends far beyond Left-Wing Extremism. During the turbulent times of the Hyderabad bomb blasts, she played critical roles in the CID, Cyber Crime, and Counter-Intelligence divisions, personally interrogating suspects linked to the Indian Mujahideen, SIMI, and ISIS.
• The SIB’s First Female Chief: She holds the distinction of being the first woman to lead the Special Intelligence Branch, an elite unit formed to
combat the Maoist insurgency.
The “Transform, Don’t Kill” Philosophy
Sumathi’s strategy is rooted in a profound psychological understanding of the insurgency: “Killing them makes them martyrs; transforming them ends the movement.”
She believes that eliminating insurgents only fuels the movement by giving them martyrs to rally behind. Instead, she focuses on ideological defeat. When a leader surrenders and publicly accepts the “government’s path” as the right one, it breaks the backbone of the rebellion and paves the way for rehabilitation.
This strategy’s ultimate validation came recently when Devuji, a top-tier Maoist leader, officially surrendered before the Telangana police. Standing beside Telangana DGP B. Shivadhar Reddy, who openly credited Sumathi’s SIB team for the monumental victory, Devuji stated: “I want to work within the legal framework of the country.”
From 2004 to 2025, B. Sumathi’s two-decade journey stands as a powerful testament to the fact that with unwavering commitment, women can shatter glass ceilings and script history in the toughest of domains.