Two minor incidents of violence, including torching of a tractor and digging a portion of a road in the interior tribal pockets of Bhadrachalam Agency, marked the one-day bandh observed by the CPI (Maoist) State committee on Saturday.
The bandh was called by the newly reconstituted CPI (Maoist) State committee to press its demands, mainly the release of ailing veteran poet Varavara Rao from Maharashtra’s Taloja jail, withdrawal of the Greyhounds special police forces from the Agency areas of the State.
The public transport services were paralysed in the Agency mandals of the district as the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) suspended all its night bus services to the far flung tribal areas in Bhadrachalam Agency and other Agency mandals in neighbouring Mulugu district.
As a safety precaution, the public transport entity has decided to suspend its night bus services to the interior Agency areas till August 3 keeping in view the CPI (Maoist)’s call to observe “Martyrs Week” from July 28, sources said.
Suspected ultras set on fire the tractor of a local farmer at Paidigudem village in Dummugudem mandal late on Friday night, police sources said.
The incident comes barely three days after Maoists torched two machines engaged in road construction work at Battinapalli village in Charla mandal.
In an another incident, Maoists reportedly dug up a small portion of a road at a remote tribal habitation at Tippapuram near the district’s border with Chhattisgarh on Friday night, sources added.
Meanwhile, the Manuguru police arrested an alleged Maoist sympathiser during a vehicle checking drive at Bugga cross roads near the coal town on Saturday. Police seized wall posters of the banned outfit from the possession of the arrested a 45-year tribal man, identified as Paddam Somaiah.
Police said Somaiah originally hails from Chhattisgarh’s Konta block and was residing in a Gutti Koya temporary settlement at Budugula in Manuguru mandal. The Edullabayyaram police arrested another alleged Maoist symathiser from Pittathogu village in Pinapaka mandal on Saturday.
In a statement, Superintendent of Police Sunil Dutt slammed the ultras accusing them of trying to extort money from contractors, businessmen and farmers in the Agency areas.
In the name of bandhs, the rebels are attempting to obstruct development by targeting roads and construction equipment, he charged.
