Three days after the Maoists began the PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerilla Army) week celebrations, the lull in the agency area was broken on Tuesday with the Maoists triggering a landmine near Jakkam village in Injari Panchayat of Pedabayalu mandal in the Andhra Odisha Border (AOB) region.
The Maoists were also engaged in an exchange of fire (EOF) with a Special Party team of the Visakhapatnam district police.
The incident took place at around 9.30 a.m., when the team combing the area sighted about 10 Maoists. The Maoists triggered a landmine and fired upon the police team. The police retaliated and after a brief exchange, the Maoists retreated deeper into the forest, said SP of Visakhapatnam Rahul Dev Sharma.
The PLGA week is celebrated every year from December 2 during which they try to regroup, hold public meetings, take up recruitment drive and also try to destroy government property or target security personnel.
“Keeping this in mind, we intensified the combing operations with more security personnel,” said DIG Visakhapatnam range Ch. Srikanth. Sources in the police confirmed the presence of senior Maoist leaders like Uday, Sudheer, Korukonda area commander Naveen and Krishna of Galikonda in the area.
