After wielding a gun as a former Maoist rebel spearheading the armed struggle in forests for decades, former Maoist top-ranking leader Tippiri Thirupati alias Devuji appeared for the Intermediate second year Telugu exam in pen and paper mode in Korutla town on Wednesday.
Mr. Thirupati took the exam as part of the ongoing Intermediate supplementary examinations at an examination centre in his native Korutla.
Sources close to his family said Mr. Thirupathi studied Intermediate MPC course at the Government junior college in Korutla between 1981-83. He was actively associated with the Radical Students Union (RSU) during his college days.
Former Maoist leader Tippiri Thirupati alias Devuji at the Intermediate Public Advanced Supplementary Examination centre in his native Korutla town of Jagtial district on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
He could not appear for the Intermediate second year Telugu exam during 1983 due to some reasons, sources added.
He subsequently joined the ranks of the then CPI (ML) People’s War Group and went underground. He returned to the mainstream after spending more than four decades underground in February this year.
The former Maoist leader took the exam along with several young students at an exam centre in his hometown. He appeared calm and focussed while writing the exam using a pen with a flair for writing, a staff member of the exam centre said.
He proved that age can never be a barrier to continue academic pursuits. It is a welcome initiative and will inspire others to pursue the path of education to realise its full potential for social transformation, a close relative of the former Maoist leader said.
Speaking to reporters in Korutla after the exam, Mr. Thirupathi said, “I appeared for the Inter Telugu exam on Wednesday. I did not write the exam in 1983 due to some reasons and took it now to continue my studies.”