Hyderabad, Sept. 9 -- The Communist Party of India (Maoist) has appointed Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji as the general secretary of the banned outfit.

The move follows the killing of former chief of the Maoist party Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraj, along with 27 guerrillas in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on May 21.

The Maoist party has also placed the People's Guerrilla Liberation Army's (PGLA) Battalion Number 1 top commander Hidma Madvi alias Santosh/Hedmalu in charge of the party's operations in Bastar.

A native of Karimnagar district in Telangana, Tirupathi, who belongs to the Dalit community, was the chief of the Central Military Commission, the armed wing of the Maoist party.

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