India, Oct. 14 -- Mallojula Venugopal Rao (70), a key member of the banned CPI (Maoist)'s politburo, the highest decision-making body of the party, was born into a Brahmin family in Peddapalli , Karimnagar district, Telangana.

Venugopal was the youngest of three sons of Mallojula Venkataiah and Madhuramma. His parents, both deceased-Venkataiah died in 1997 and Madhuramma in 2022- belonged to a family of freedom fighters.

The second son Anjanna is a temple priest, while the eldest, Mallojula Koteshwara Rao alias Kishenji rose to become one of the most influential leaders in the Maoist movement before being killed in a police encounter in West Bengal on November 24, 2011.

A commerce graduate from Peddapalli, Venugopal was drawn into left...