The seizure of four walkie-talkies from an electronic appliances shopkeeper in Bhadrachalam on Saturday sparked security concerns in Telangana’s famous temple town, regarded as a gateway to the restive Dandakaranya forest region spanning across the border areas of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
Acting on specific inputs, a police team detained a local shopkeeper while he was heading towards Charla road with four new walkie-talkies on the outskirts of the temple town early on Saturday morning.
The police arrested him under the Telangana State Public Security Act after questioning him about the origin of the wireless communication gadgets and where they were destined. He was subsequently remanded in judicial custody, police sources said.
The police initiated a detailed probe into the case from the “naxal angle” to find out the source of the wireless communication equipment.
Maoist angle
Police suspect the walkie-talkies were destined for the ultras operating in the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas spread in the thickly forested Dandakaranya region.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the shopkeeper purchased the walkie-talkies through an online shopping app. based on an order placed by a person reportedly hailing from Dummugudem mandal a couple of days ago.
The trader landed in the police dragnet while allegedly trying to deliver the first batch of the consignment of the gadgets, sources added.
Supply chain choked
Police in Bhadrachalam division claimed to have choked the Maoists’ supply chain to a significant extent by arresting several “Maoist couriers” and recovering medicines, explosive materials and mobile phone gadgets at regular intervals in recent months.
The Dummugudem police on Saturday arrested two alleged couriers of CPI (Maoist) outfit, including a former sarpanch of a remote tribal village near Mulkapadu, and seized a bundle of cardex wire as well as some letters.
A medical shop owner of Charla mandal and a youth from Chhattisgarh were arrested by the Charla police on charges of Maoist links at R Kothagudem village in the border mandal a week ago.
Several saline bottles, a medical prescription and blood test reports were seized from the duo, police sources added.
Investigation on
When contacted, Bhadrachalam Assistant Superintendent of Police Rajesh Chandra told The Hindu that a detailed investigation into the seizure of four walkie-talkies from a local shopkeeper in Bhadrachalam is underway.
Efforts are on to trace the source of the wireless communication gadgets and identify the persons, who placed order for them. All dimensions including “Maoist angle” is being probed to find out the facts, he added.
