The Visakhapatnam Rural Police arrested five militia members of the banned CPI (Maoist) Pedabayalu Area Committee, who were involved in number of offences, here on Wednesday.
The arrested persons have been identified as Vanthala Leevu (22) of Pedabayalu mandal, G. Nookaraju (25) of Koraput district in Odisha, Ch. Nookaraju (22) and Pangi Kameswara Rao (20) of Pedabayalu mandal, and V. Chanti Babu (27) of Chintapalle mandal.
According to police, all the five persons have been working as militia members since 2014.
Among them, Vanthala Leevu has been involved in three murders, three landmine blasts and some cases of arson.
Cash reward
There was also a cash reward of ₹1 lakh on him. G. Raju was also involved in a murder case dating back to 2016 under Munchingputtu Police Station limits.
Praja court
Police said that these persons were acting as couriers for Maoists and would forcibly take members of the public to ‘Praja Courts’. They also used to inform Maoists about the movement of police.
All the five were sent to Central Jail for 15 days’ remand by the Special JFCM Court in Visakhapatnam.
