Mighty blow to Maoists in their stronghold

Telangana and Chhattisgarh police had chalked out a collaborative strategy

Bodies of the Maoists killed in an encounter in the early hours of March 2, 2018, in the Tadapalagutta and Pujari Kanker forest areas arrive at Bhadrachalam in Bhadradri Kothagudem district in Telangana.

Barely a few weeks after working out a collaborative strategy to combat the resurgence of Maoist movement in Telangana, a joint squad of Telangana and Chhattisgarh police inflicted a major blow to the CPI (Maoist) in its stronghold of Dandakaranya forest region spanning across the volatile Telangana-Chhattisgarh border.

The death of 10 Maoists in an encounter with the joint team comprising Greyhounds personnel of the Telangana and the Chhattisgarh police in Chhattisgarh’s Pujari Kanker forest area in Bijapur district early on Friday dealt a major setback to the Maoists who had stepped up their activities along the inter-State border, targeting road construction equipment and alleged “police informers.”

Effective coordination

Friday’s encounter comes just a few weeks after senior police officials of the Left-wing extremism-affected Bhadradri-Kothagudem and Jayashankar-Bhupalapalli districts of the State and Chhattisgarh’s strife-torn Bastar region met in Kothagudem to forge effective coordination in anti-Maoist operations.

 

The meeting has reportedly discussed a multi-focal strategy envisaging intensive joint anti-Maoist offensive as well as civic action programmes in the areas along the restive inter-State border.

A month ago, around 40 Maoist rebels from Dandakaranya region struck terror in Pinapaka mandal after crossing over the Godavari, gunning down a tribal man, grievously injuring another by branding them as “police informers” and setting ablaze costly equipment worth ₹1 crore at a sand quarry.

Bandh observed

The CPI (Maoist) subsequently observed a ‘Dandakaranya-Telangana’ bandh on February 5 protesting against what the outfit termed “fascist repression.” The bandh was preceded by a slew of incidents of Maoist violence.

A major exchange of fire broke out between the security forces and a strong group of more than 50 Maoists at Togugudem in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on February 4.