Bhadrachalam sub-division police claimed to have thwarted an alleged plot by Maoists to trigger a landmine explosion apparently targeting police personnel engaged in combing operations at Pusuguppa forest area with the arrest of two “Maoist militia members” and a “courier” while they were carrying explosive material near the Taliperu dam in Charla mandal on Wednesday morning.
Police said that the plot to resort to violence by triggering landmine blasts was hatched by a group of top Maoist leaders, who met in the dense forest area near Puttapadu village along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border in connection with the ongoing 19th CPI (Maoist) anniversary of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA).
An alert combing party nabbed two Maoist militia members, including one from Chhattisgarh, while they were allegedly handing over 30 gelatin sticks and 12 detonators to a courier in a remote area near the Taliperu dam in the early hours of the day, police said.
Police identified the arrested trio as “Maoist militia members” — Podium Edamaiah, 29, of Yerrampadu in Charla mandal and Vanjam Masa, 23, of Chhattisgarh — and “Maoist courier” Krishna Murthy, 41, of Pusuguppa in Charla mandal.
Police said that Edamaiah was allegedly involved in a total of 12 cases of Maoist violence, including four murder cases reported in the limits of Charla police station in Bhadrachalam Agency.
Bhadrachalam ASP Rajesh Chandra presented the arrested trio before the media in Bhadrachalam town on Wednesday afternoon.
