A group of about 15 armed members of CPI (Maoist)’s Galikonda area committee blasted a coffee godown of the AP Forest Development Corporation at Pedavalasa in GK Veedhi mandal on Saturday night.
The roof of one room of the godown was blown off and walls were damaged due to the blast. Some implements for coffee collection and furniture were also damaged.
Coffee seeds were not stored in the godown as picking up of seeds was stopped some time ago following a warning from the Maoist party.
The target set for 156 hectares of coffee plantation at Pedavalasa was 100 tons of seeds but collection was stopped after 15 tons were picked up from the plants.
The attack on the coffee godown took place several hours after Superintendent of Police G. Srinivas and other officials conducted the Satbhavana Yatra at Rallagedda, a Maoist stronghold, which is about 16 km from Pedavalasa.
Two pamphlets left by the Galikonda area committee and the Adivasi Rytu Coolie Sangham and Viplava Mahila Sangham at Bodidemullu temple, one km away from the coffee godown urged the people to boycott the “fake” Panchayat elections (expected to be conducted in a few months) and demanded the government to stop the Operation Green Hunt; attacks against the Girijans by the “hired” forces of the government; harassment of the Girijans after branding them as Maoist sympathisers; illegal arrests and fake encounters after raiding the villages at midnight.
The organisations said the Congress leaders were responsible for the arrests and fake encounters and demanded that they should protect the Girijans, their natural wealth and properties.
According to information received here, Krishna, an important member of the Galikonda area committee, was among those who blasted the coffee godown. The group first tried breaking into a bigger room of the godown but as they could not break the iron doors, they entered an adjacent room by breaking open its doors. They set off a mine in that room, which blew away the roof, damaged the walls, farm implements, furniture, etc. in the room.
