Renowned Telangana folk singer and balladeer Gaddar, known for his revolutionary songs during the 1980s and later during the Telangana statehood agitation, passed away in Hyderabad on Sunday, August 6, due to ill-health. He was 77. 

• Born as Gummadi Vittal Rao in Toopran, Medak district, the renowned folk singer and poet went on to become popular as ‘Gaddar’.
• The fiery singer and poet joined an engineering course in Hyderabad as a student but was drawn towards the revolutionary ideologies of the Dalit Panthers and the Naxalbari movement.
• During the 1980s, he led an underground life, including in the forests, working as a cultural activist, and toured places like Abujhmarh in Chhattisgarh and Odisha.