V. Prabhakar Rao

V. Prabhakar Rao was a communist leader from Polampalli, in Karimnagar taluk of Karimnagar district.¹² He was president of the Andhra Mahasabha’s district committee and led armed squads against the Nizam’s police and the Razakars (the armed volunteers of the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen) in 1947–48.¹ He was killed near Mandapuram, in Huzurabad taluk, in January 1948.¹³

His story is told in the Andhra Pradesh government’s Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle (1980), in Sarojini Regani’s history and in the Telugu histories of two Communist leaders, P. Sundarayya (1973) and Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao (1988).¹³²⁴

The squad

The Who’s Who says he organised resistance squads against the Nizam’s police and the Razakars in 1947–48.¹ It lists several men of Karimnagar district who joined the band of fighters he organised.⁵⁶

Sundarayya writes that he came to Mandapuram with a squad of 30.² On their way they cut down toddy palms and burnt the records of village officers and the promissory notes held by the deshmukhs (landlords who were hereditary revenue chiefs).² Devulapalli writes that Prabhakar Rao came from a landlord family, was educated and was a leading member of the party.⁷

The fight near Mandapuram, January 1948

Sundarayya writes that the villagers of Mandapuram fed the squad.² While they were eating, reserve police arrived on information sent earlier by the village patel (headman).² The police surrounded the village on three sides and hid men on the fourth side, towards the hill.²⁸ As the squad fought its way towards the hill, Prabhakar Rao was hit in the stomach by a rifle bullet and fought on until he died.⁸ Sundarayya names Bhupathi Reddy of Sircilla and Damodar Reddy of Nalgonda district among the others killed.⁸

Regani writes that eight Andhra Mahasabha workers, among them Bhupathi Reddy and V. Prabhakar Rao, were killed at the Mandapuram hills in January 1948.³ The Who’s Who says Prabhakar Rao led a band of fighters against the Nizam’s military and the Razakars at the Mandapuram hills in January 1948 and died in action.¹ It also names Damodar Reddy, a squad leader from Nalgonda district, as shot dead in the police raid on Mandapuram.⁹

Devulapalli gives a harsher judgement.⁴ He writes that the squad, though trained in guerrilla methods, went about in military uniforms and paraded openly.⁴ When police and soldiers surrounded it on a hill, it did not try to slip away, and the whole squad was shot.⁴ He says the loss of the squad and its leader set back the struggle in Karimnagar district for some time.⁴

Where the sources disagree

The accounts differ on these points:

• Who surrounded the squad. Sundarayya says reserve police.² The Who’s Who speaks of the Nizam’s military and the Razakars, and Devulapalli of police and soldiers.¹⁴
• How many died. Regani gives eight Andhra Mahasabha workers.³ Sundarayya says most of the squad reached the hill safely.⁸ Devulapalli says the whole squad was shot.⁴

Footnotes

1. Regani (ed.), Who’s Who, Vol. II (1980), p. 41 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. P. Sundarayya, Veera Telangana Viplava Poratam: Gunapathalu (1973), p. 125 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), p. 220 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 465 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

5. Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II (1980), p. 38 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

6. Regani (ed.), Who’s Who, Vol. II (1980), p. 52 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

7. Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 466 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

8. Sundarayya, Veera Telangana (1973), p. 126 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. Regani (ed.), Who’s Who, Vol. II (1980), p. 473 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩