A selfie with his wife ended the game of a person with a bounty of Rs 1 crore… The full story of Naxalite Chalpati

Naxalite Chalpati has been killed in an encounter with security forces.

Ramachandra Reddy, popularly known as Chalapathi, was a resident of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. His names have appeared as Pratap Reddy, Ramachandra Reddy, Appa Rao, Chalapathi, Jayaram and Ramu in police records. Police said that Chalapathi had studied up to 10th standard

The dreaded Naxalite Chalpati, who was synonymous with terror, has been killed in an encounter with security forces. There was a bounty of Rs 1 crore on Chalpati and he was ruling the forests of Chhattisgarh-Odisha for decades. Even the police could never trace him. But one mistake cost him his life and the police not only got to know his appearance for the first time, but also got help in reaching him.

In fact, Chalpati was always cautious about his movements and remained a puzzle for the government for decades. But, a selfie with his wife became a problem for him and this selfie cost him his life. This is how the government got to know Chalpati’s appearance for the first time.

When the security forces got hold of this selfie of Chalpati with his wife, it proved to be very helpful in the search operation against him.

Many names in the police records of Chalpati

Ramchandra Reddy, popularly known as Chalpati, was a resident of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. His names Pratap Reddy, Ramchandra Reddy, Apparao, Chalpati, Jayaram and Ramu have appeared in the police records. Police said that Chalpati had studied till 10th standard.

Chalapati was not able to move much due to knee problems.

Chalapati was mainly active in Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Naxal activities have now ended in both these places. For the last few years, Chalpati had started living in Darbha of Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. He had problems in his knees, due to which he was not able to move much. He was around 60 years old.

In his early years, Chalpati joined the banned People’s War Group (PWG). This group was wreaking havoc in some southern states. Chalpati may not have been very educated, but he knew Telugu, Hindi, English and Oriya languages. He was also considered an expert in military strategy and guerrilla warfare.

Chalapati came into the limelight in 2008 when the Naxalites under his leadership attacked Nayagarh district of Odisha. 13 security personnel were killed in this attack.

Carried out the 2008 Naxal attack

A senior officer involved in the anti-Naxal operation says that Naxal leader Ramakrishna (now dead) was the mastermind of this attack. This attack took place on February 15, 2008. Chalpati was the person who carried out this entire incident. It was Chalpati who ensured that the Naxalites could escape from Nayagarh town after looting the police armory.

Senior officials say that Chalapati had ensured that the police force could not enter Nayagarh when the armory was attacked. The Naxalites had closed all the roads leading to the city. Tree branches were scattered at large places, blocking the entire road.

In 2004, several underground communist groups including PWG merged and CPI (Maoist) was formed. After that, Chalapati’s dominance in the organization increased and he became a member of the central committee.

Chalapati carried out Naxalite operations in the backward Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts of Odisha and expanded his network. However, in 2011, when he tried to loot another police armory in Kandhamal district, the police foiled the attack.

Life spent in the forests
Chalapati’s life was spent in the forests. During this time, he became close to Aruna alias Chaitanya Venkat Ravi, ‘deputy commander’ of the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) and later married her.

Chalapati remained a mystery to security agencies for decades, but a selfie of him with Aruna went viral and helped security forces identify him. The government had placed a bounty of Rs 1 crore on Chalapathi.