AP police issues travel advisory in naxal-hit areas

Andhra Pradesh Police have issued a general advisory to all elected representatives, mainly ministers, MPs and MLAs, asking them not to travel in Maoist-infested areas in the State.

The advisory will be applicable to senior bureaucrats and important government officials as well, highly-placed police sources said.

The advisory was issued following the recent kidnapping incidents in Odisha and Chhatisgarh.

“We have asked ministers, MPs, MLAs and other elected representatives not to travel in the Maoist-infested areas in view of the incidents in Odisha and Chhatisgarh. We have put them on high alert particularly after the killing of Sukma district Collector Alex Menon’s gunmen and his abduction by the outlaws,” an Inspector General of Police said in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts in north coastal Andhra fall in the Andhra-Odisha Border Zone of Maoists while Khammam district borders Chhatisgarh. Other districts like Warangal, Adilabad and Karimnagar too face Maoist threat.

If at all the public representatives in these districts would like to visit any place, they have been asked to inform the police well in advance so that extra armed security could be provided.

“Even those public representatives who are provided with one or two gunmen have been asked not to go to interior areas without additional security cover. The same has been told to the respective district Collectors and other senior government officials,” the IGP said.