The Alluri Sitharama Raju district police have tightened the security ahead of the Martyrs’ Week, scheduled to be observed by the banned CPI (Maoist) from July 28 to August 3.
The Martyrs’ Week this year assumes importance with the recent arrest of Vanthala Ramakrishna alias Prabhakar alias Ashok, secretary of the Pedabayalu-Korukonda Area Committee, and was said to be the ‘last man standing’ for the left-wing extremism in the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) region.
Some 60 Maoists including 33 party members and 27 militia members from the critical militia network surrendered, corresponding with the arrest of Ashok. Some senior police officers term it as the ‘end of the road’ for the Maoists in this region.
However, this has become the ‘critical’ factor as it was seen in the past that whenever the Maoists had touched the low, they tried to make a comeback with a major incident.
In September 2018, the Maoists had killed TDP MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma at Livitiput in Dumbriguda mandal. The place was said to be almost out of bounds of the LWE and it happened at a time, when the Maoists were said to be lying low after the encounter in Ramaguda in 2016, in which more than 30 Maoists were killed.
The killing of the MLA and the former MLA caused quite an embarrassment to the police and this is one reason why they do not want a slip up.
The district police have requisitioned more forces from all its wings such as APSP, civil and the Greyhounds. The combing operations and area domination exercises have been intensified. Roadblocks and check-posts have been set up at all critical points and vehicles are being checked.
Round-the-clock checking of vulnerable points for explosives and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) by bomb and dog squads are being done.
“Apart from this, we have alerted all high-value targets and those who could be in the radar of the Maoists to remain cautious and have increased security cover of some of them,” said ASR district SP S. Satish Kumar.
Security has been tightened at all critical installations in the LWE-hit mandals such as Pedabayalu, Chintapalli and GK Veedhi, said Chintapalli ASP Tushar Dudi.
Presence of Aruna
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports suggest that Aruna, in-charge of the AOBSZC, has returned to the AOB region.
A few months ago, intelligence agencies confirmed that most of the top leaders such as Gajarla Ravi alias Uday, Aruna and Kakuri Pandana alias Jagan had moved to ‘safer places’ in Chhattisgarh post Teegalametta encounter in Koyyuru last June. The command of the AOB region was given to Kora Nageswara Rao and Ashok, and both have been arrested. This has created a void, and Aruna’s return could be seen as a ploy to fill that vacuum.
It is learnt that Aruna is back with a few cadres from Chhattisgarh as the local strength has dwindled considerably.
Martyrs Week is observed by the Maoists to commemorate the death anniversary of one of the founders of the movement Charu Majumdar. He died in police custody on July 28, 1972.
