Hyderabad, May 14 -- From holding an AK-47 to a pen, it has been a four-decade-long but significant journey for former top Maoist commander Thippiri Tirupati alias Devji as he appeared for the Intermediate Public Advanced Supplementary Examination in Telangana on Wednesday, May 12.

He joined the Maoist movement in 1983, when he was an intermediate student. Over the next 40 years, Devji rose through the ranks, from a foot soldier to leading the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) military wing, becoming one of the most wanted leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist) with a bounty of nearly Rs 1 crore.

He is considered the mastermind of the 2010 Dantewada ambush, one of the deadliest Maoist attacks, which left 74 soldiers of the Central R...