Maoists and a Special Party of police exchanged fire near Cheedipalli of Gorrellametta village under Boodaralla panchayat in Koyyuru mandal on Wednesday morning.
Two groups of Maoists, with 15 members, fired four rounds on the police party from a distance of about 800 meters and the police retaliated by firing one round and the Maoists escaped according to preliminary reports reaching here, Superintendent of Police Koya Praveen said.
The exchange of fire took place between 10.15 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. and it appeared that the Maoists fired first to stall the police party and to escape from the area. Combing operations were intensified after the exchange of fire, Mr. Praveen added.
According to unconfirmed reports senior leaders of Maoist party, commander of central regional committee-I Kudumula Ravi and former head of military operations of the party in ABO Chalapathi were present. The Maoists broke into three groups after the incident and escaped into the forests. A few days ago the Maoists conducted a meeting in this area and the leaders might be present there in this connection.
This is the second exchange of fire between the Maoists and the AP Police in the AOB area in the recent times. There were some other violent incidents reported in Visakhapatnam Agency. During January the AP Police and Maoists were involved in exchange of fire near Bejjangi in Odisha, which is about 25 k.m. from Munchingputtu in the Agency.
During April the police fired at a group of Maoists during a combing operation at Oodalamarri near Pulusumamidi under Gummidala Panchayat in G.K. Veedhi mandal. The Maoists escaped into the forests without retaliating.
