A 25-year old Maoist was killed in an encounter by the police in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana. The slain man is said to be the guard of top Maoist leader Haribhushan. It is said that several Naxals have fled the spot and the police forces are continuing their operations in search of them.
According to sources, the encounter took place in the wee hours on Thursday, probably around 2:30 am.
A sudden rise in Maoist activities during the Covid-19 lockdown has been seen, as a result of which the Telangana Police have frequented their visits in the tribal areas in the interiors of the state. The encounter took place when Telangana DGP Mahender Reddy was on a tour of Maoist-affected areas of AsifabadKumaram Bheem districts.
“We have seized a weapon and a motorcycle from the incident spot, following a tip-off about the movement of the Maoists action teams in the villages on the borders of Chhattisgarh. Police teams have been conducting vehicle inspections,” District Superintendent of Police Sunit Dutt said in a statement. Reports say that a pistol was recovered from him.
The incident happened in the dense forests of Devallagudem of Gundala block. The place falls along Telangana and Chhattisgarh borders. This is the second encounter in recent times in the district. An exchange of fire had taken place on 16 July in the forests of Malletogu in Manugur mandal in the district in which a constable was injured.
There are various instances in which Maoists came to villages for recruiting the tribal youth, taking undue advantage of the lock-down period.
The DGP held a series of meetings with senior police officials, including in-charge SP of Asifabad Satyanarayana, and discussed the strategies in the wake of reports that top Maoist leaders have intensified recruitment of cadres in the border areas.
On the other hand, it is said that the operation leader and former secretary of CPI (Maoist), Ganapathy aka Mappalla Laxman Rao, is planning to surrender to the Telangana Police.
After resigning from his party position two years ago due to ill health, the 74-year-old Maoist and five others are understood to be in touch with the K Chandrasekhar Rao government.