On the intervening night of June 27 and 28, about 30 Maoists from the Pedabayalu area committee led by its commander Sudheer descended on Bongajangi village in Pedabayalu mandal in the Andhra Odisha Border region of Visakhapatnam Agency and dragged Kora Sattibabu, a 21-year-old youth, to a praja court.
They held the court in the presence of the villagers and later shot him dead, after escorting him into a forested area. The youth had two bullet wounds, shot from a close range with a Lee Enfield 303 rifle. They (Maoist) also left a blood-stained letter, suggesting that Sattibabu was a police informer and he continued his activity despite several warnings.
However, the villagers and his neighbours refute the charges and they say that the Maoists have been trying to infuse fear into them, as they have been resisting their demands.
“We were present at the Praja Court and we denied the charges levelled against the youth. Later, when they (Maoist) were not convinced, they escorted him into a forested area, promising us that he will be returned unharmed after a counselling session, but shot him dead in cold blood,” said a neighbour of Sattibabu, who along with 23 others had represented the case to the District Collector on Monday.
“The only problem with Sattibabu, was that he was a very active youth and vehemently protested against the demands of the Maoists. With our meagre income, we can feed four to five Maoists who suddenly come to our village, but not 20 to 30 cadres,” he said.
‘Not the first case’
What pains us more, is that he was married just three months back and he also worked for a brief period as militia member for the Maoists, said another person from the same village.
This was the seventh case since last two years. In 2017, two were killed in Majigaruvu in G. Madugula and one was killed in Busiputtu in Munchingput mandal. In 2018, the Maoists apart from gunning down Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma, killed another innocent tribal in Kumkumpudi in GK Veedhi.
“Since last 15 years, the Maoist have killed close to 120 innocent tribals, after branding them as police informers,” said the Superintendent of Police, Visakhapatnam, Attada Babujee.
According to the SP, the Maoists have already lost track of their ideological movement in Visakha Agency, as tribals have tasted development and there is no issue that can be modelled into an agitation, which was their earlier ploy. “The only way to keep the tribals under control is by infusing fear psychosis through such killing,” said Mr. Babujee.
Resistance
In the last few years, the tribals have been resisting the Maoists. In October 2014, the villagers lynched three Maoists including the DCM Sindri China Ranga Rao alias Sharat, P. Ganapati and K. Nageswara Rao, after the Maoists killed a village priest.
In the last one year, the tribals have taking out frequent rallies protesting against Maoist atrocities and demanding construction of roads and cell towers.
According to Mr. Babujee, the local tribals, especially the new generation youth, want development and are against Maoist diktat such as no cell phones, no two- wheelers and one cannot go outside the village to study.
“In the case of Sattibabu also, the Maoists fearing retaliation from the tribals, took him aside inside the forest and shot him dead. Normally, after branding a person as police informer, they kill him in front of all in the Praja Court,” said the SP.
