The strategic move of the Maoist rebels to organise the 15th Foundation Day celebrations of the CPI (Maoist) for nearly more than one-and-a-half month from Saturday prompted the police to bolster security arrangements across the Agency areas in the State to avert untoward incidents.
The Foundation Day of the banned party on Saturday passed off peacefully without any incident across the State.
The Maoist rebels through posters called upon people to celebrate the outfit’s Foundation Day up to November 8 instead of for a week or a fortnight.
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The move by the banned organisation is apparently aimed at consolidating its base and to help it penetrate into new areas along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border by organising rallies and meetings in the interior areas in the Dandakaranya forest region in the next few weeks, sources said.
Night services halted
There have been sporadic cases of violence by the Maoists in the recent past, including blasting of a portion of the main road near Tippapur in Charla mandal of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district. The Peddapalli district police apprehended a Maoist courier near Kataram.
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On advice of the police the Bhadradri-Kothagudem administration has stopped night service buses on the Bhadrachalam-Venkatapuram route on Saturday.
Intelligence sources say that the Maoists were planning to intrude into the erstwhile Karimnagar district, once their stronghold, and commit a major offence during the coming anniversary of Koyyur encounter of December 2, 1999 in which top Maoists leaders like Nalla Adi Reddy and Seelam Naresh, had been killed.
However, the police said that they were not leaving no stone unturned to ensure normalcy. “We are on high alert and continuing our regular combing operations of area domination in the jungles abutting Chhattisgarh state and sharing of intelligence,” said a police official of Jayashankar-Bhupalapalli district.
Maoists pamphlets urging people to participate in the extended Foundation Day celebrations were released two days ago in two villages — Ramachandrapuram in Venkatapuram mandal and Chokkala village in Wazedu mandal which are bordering the Chhattisgarh State.
Counter-offensive
The Maoist party pamphlets asked people to actively take part in Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) from October 21 to November 9. They accused both the BJP at Centre and TRS in the State of adopting anti-people policies.
“We alerted both civil and political targets and asked them to take care. We wanted them to restrict their movements and also keep the police informed of their movements in Agency areas on daily basis,” Superintendent of Police of Jangaon district and also Jaishankar-Bhoopalpally district R. Bhaskaran told The Hindu .
The police beefed up security at vital installations, including cell towers, to foil any attempt by the extremists. The police have fortified the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) right from the Medigadda barrage, Kannepalli pump house and the Annaram barrages by deploying Central paramilitary forces.
Police deployed
The police forces have also been deployed at the Tupakulagudem where a barrage is constructed across the river Godavari.
The Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Mancherial district police were on high alert on Saturday in view of the threat perception from Maoists. Security was tight at Jodeghat village in Kerameri mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district where top officials had gone to attend a preparatory meeting in connection with the martyrdom anniversary of Kumram Bheem.