Kothagudem: Thursday’s encounter raised many questions, including why it was necessary to launch such a fierce attack when the men could easily have been arrested. Moreover, none of the members of the CPI (ML) Chandra Pulla Reddy Bata faction who were killed in the encounter had either leftist or Maoist leanings. All had worked previously with the CPI (ML) New Democracy, and CPI (ML) Janasakthi, and left these groups for various reasons.
They had formed a group six months ago and started extorting money from businessmen in the area to fund their activities. One of the men they appro-ached was a contractor for the Koyyagudem open cast mine. He told them to wait for some time before paying up.
Dal commander Etti Kumar aka Rakhi worked in the CPI(ML) New Democracy Chandranna group and left it after a dispute with party leaders.
Om Prakash, a resident of Kamballapalli in Mahbubabad district, is a registered medical practitioner and joined the group because he wanted to settle a land dispute.
Naresh is the grandson of Batanna, a Zilla Parishad Territorial Committee member of New Democracy. He worked for the All India Students Federation earlier. The other members too had associations with other leftist outfits in the state.
The police did not allow the media and others into the area where the alleged encounter took place, giving rise to speculation about just how much of an ‘encounter’ it was. There are also questions about why the police launched such a heavy attack when there was a chance of nabbing the men. One theory is that it was a warning to other groups that may still be moving in Telangana state though most Maoist groups are confined to Chhattisgarh and Odisha now.
Balladeer Gaddar, a critic of police action, said, “It is a fake encounter and it is the first one in Telangana.” He has demanded a probe by a sitting judge.
Former MLA Gummadi Narasaiah said that there are doubts about whether this was a genuine encounter and the police statement could not be believed.
