Maoists allegedly triggered a landmine in Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) area close to Ramaraopalem, a small tribal hamlet located between Lothugedda and Rallagedda bus-stop under Annavaram police station limits, in Chintapalli mandal in Visakhapatnam agency on Friday morning, killing a Home Guard Sheikh Valli on the spot.
The landmine was remotely triggered around 9.15 a.m. when the Home Guard was driving a civil transport vehicle, said DIG Visakhapatnam (Range) Ch. Srikanth.
Sources in the police said the landmine could be at least 3 to 4 years old, as the road was laid at least three times in the last four years.
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Cause of worry
Though it was a single blast with one casualty, the worrying factor for the police is the presence of Maoists in the region.
In the first week of April, there was an exchange of fire near Kistavaram under Annavaram Police Station limits between the elite anti-naxal force of Andhra Pradesh, the Greyhounds, and the Maoists.
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There were about 30 Maoists and a few armed militia members, and most importantly the elusive Gajarla Ravi or Uday, who is currently the in-charge of the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC), was reportedly present in that group.
The reported presence of Uday, Boda Anjaiah alias Naveen, chief of Korukonda Area Committee, and Dubashi Shankar, who is currently in-charge of East Division, indicate that the Maoists presence is building up and they are up to something big.
The documents recovered from the site of the exchange of fire revealed that Maoists were planning to launch a full-scale attack on the Rallagedda police outpost.
And now a blast under the same police station limits suggest that they are still present in that area and are up to something big, said a senior police officer, engaged in anti-Maoist operations in AOB. The police have despatched special parties to sanitise the entire area.