Police Arrest 50 Maoists And Sympathisers in AP
Six Maoists were killed in an Exchange of Fire (EoF) with security personnel in Maredumilli mandal of Alluri Seetharam Raju district this morning
Vijayawada: AP police arrested 50 Maoists and their sympathisers in Vijayawada, Eluru, Kakinada and Amalapuram on Tuesday, many of them suspected to be associates of slain Maoist leader Madvi Hidma. In a single operation at a multi-storied building at Kanuru New Autonagar falling under Krishna district limits, police picked up 28 Maoists and their sympathisers.
Nine of them were said to be the protection team of Maoist central committee general secretary Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji who took over after the death of Nambala Keshava Rao.
The arrests were based on information contained in a diary found at the site of an encounter where the AP police had killed Hidma earlier in the day.
These Maoists were found to be taking shelter at Kanuru near Vijayawada for some time in the guise of daily wage workers to avoid detection. Police are trying to get the details of the owner of the building in Kanuru New Auto Nagar, who rented it out to the Maoists.
Krishna SP V. Vidhyasekhar Naidu said, “A majority of those arrested belong to Maoist leader Hidma’s team. As they hail from parts of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, we are facing some difficulty in communicating with them and gathering details as part of our investigation. We are getting translators to communicate with them. We are yet to find out their motive for making the city a hideout.”
Residents of Autonagar were shocked when a large posse of police personnel, including special from the anti-Maoist Greyhounds and Octopus, surrounded the building and carried out the major operation. Police managed to arrest the Maoists without giving them a chance to retaliate, source said.
In Eluru, 15 Maoists of the Hidma team have been arrested on the outskirts of the town. Police are trying to get details with regard to why they chose to hide in Eluru, for how long they have been in the town, and whether they planned to target anyone or resort to any violence.
Eluru SP K. Pratapa Siva Kishore said, “We have arrested 15 Maoist cadres who are above the rank of area committee members and followers of Hidma. They all had been residing in a building from where we arrested them. As there is intense surveillance on them in the forests, they are probably adopting multiple strategies and reaching urban areas for shelter.”
Two Maoists were arrested in Kakinada, SP G. Bindu Madhav said. These two also belong to the Hidma team.
Four Maoists in NTR district and one from Amalapuram in Dr B.R. Ambedkar district were also arrested by the police.
AP Intelligence chief Mahesh Chandra Ladda told mediapersons at Rampachodavaram: “Some of the top Maoist leaders and cadres had been trying to enter AP, unable to withstand high intensity surveillance on them in Chhattisgarh. Probably, they considered AP a safer haven. But we have nabbed them following the death of six Maoists in the encounter at Maredumilli.”
AP police are yet to disclose details of the weapons seized from the arrested Maoist leaders and their sympathisers or any arm dumps they have traced out. Police sources say that they are trying to establish whether the Maoists had been trying to target any politician or police personnel.