Kollur (Bellamkonda, Guntur): Maoist memorial is the only land mark to identify Kollur village at Bella-mkonda in Guntur distr-ict. Sources suspect that it would give space to the spread of Naxalism here once again. Kollur, which was known for its historic significance does not even exists now.
When the state government constructed the Pulichintala project, it came under the submerged area, and villagers were rehabilitated. The village with a history stretching back to centuries was also the place where the famed Kohinoor diamond is said to have been mined.
Though Maoists had e-ntered into the area much earlier, Maoists terrorised the villagers in 1990s. According to the locals, Maoists distributed 800 acres of land to the landless poor and tenant farmers in 1995.
Gude Srinivasa Rao, once a native of the villa-ge who migrated to Pid-uguralla, said “Maoists forcibly snatched land from the owners and distributed it.” He revealed that the Naxals entered the village in 1985 and slowly gained sympathy of the poor people thro-ugh such tactics.
In 1988, Naxals punish-ed four persons who w-ere involved in gangrape and became heroes among certain sections of the people and gained complete control.
During 1995, the Naxals snatched land from the big farmers and distributed to the landless. They threatened the owners. Adding to this, the poor people in village did not repay the money that was taken from the rich. This led to fear among the rich and land owners and they migrated from the village.
The population of the village reduced to a mere 800 from 2,000 within a short span of time after the 1995 incident. Locals said that until Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy became Chief Minister in 2004, they did not came back to the village.
