The Karimnagar district police have sounded high alert following the suspected movement of Maoists in the Manthani revenue division located along the shores of river Godavari adjoining Chhattisgarh, to observe the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) week beginning Wednesday.
Maoists have been conducting the PLGA week since the year 2000 in memory of naxalite martyrs Seelam Naresh, Nalla Reddy, Yerramreddy Santosh Reddy and another dalam member who were killed in Koyyur in an encounter on December 2, 1999.
Fresh incident of a landmine blast in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh by Maoists as part of the PLGA week on Wednesday has made the district police machinery maintain strict vigil to avoid any untoward incident. The district guards police have already launched combing operations in the forests of the Manthani region to check the intrusion of Maoists from the neighbouring State.
Top police sources said that they have alerted all the naxalite targets to move out of the villages and reside in the towns.
Taking into consideration the vain bid by naxalites to blast Mahadevpur police station by using explosives planted in an RTC bus in 2003 on the border of the district, the district police have fortified all police stations in the revenue division by deploying additional armed forces to guard the police station.
The police were also keeping a close surveillance of all public properties by intensifying patrolling. The police have also stepped up the CAT (counter action team) movement to protect the naxalite targets and other VIPs of the district.
Police sources said that there was no fresh recruitment into the naxalite fold from the district.
However, there is every possibility of their intrusion from the neighbouring Chhattisgarh State by crossing the river Godavari, they said, adding that “the naxalites are desperate to commit an offence to show their presence in the district”. But, the police machinery is geared up to check the naxalite violence and ensure peace in the district, they said.
