As many as 23 people from the Visakhapatnam Agency, belonging to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), met Collector V. Vinay Chand at the Collectorate on Monday and sought protection from the Maoists, alleged that the left-wing extremists were terrorising them.
“We are eking out our livelihood by raising crops along the hill slopes and educating our children to ensure their better future. The Maoists are coming to our hamlets and advising us against sending our children to schools and colleges or for jobs at government offices. They are also warning us against using cellphones,” the villagers alleged.
‘Violence on suspicion’
They further said that the Maoists were suspecting everyone using a cellphone thinking that they were passing on information to the police on their movements.
“The Maoists are beating up tribal people and sometimes killing them. The tribal youth are opposing them and have decided to prevent their entry to our hamlets,” they said.
The Maoists killed Korra Sattibabu of Ginnelakota panchayat in Pedabayalu mandal recently after picking him up from the village, promising that he would be sent back after questioning.
“The tribal people were living in a State of constant fear of being picked up and killed by the Maoists,” the residents alleged.
They sought protection from the Maoists and appealed to the Collector to provide them land in the mandal headquarters so that they could take up cultivation there.
