Hyderabad: Hours after the attack at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, at least 15 militants were detained in Maoist-hit areas on Tuesday night by the Telangana police. The police have issued a high alert in the bordering districts of Telangana and Chhattisgarh and deployed additional security forces at polling stations located in sensitive areas.
Soon after the attack at Dantewada, senior police officials of the state held a review meeting to lay out a strategy to prevent left wing extremists from entering the TS border, as the Chhattisgarh police would conduct combing in the areas where the attack took place in which an MLA and four police personnel were killed in a landmine blast.
Searches were also conducted in the areas close to the border, to prevent extremists crossing the border. Bhupalpally, Mulug and Kothagudem districts of the state share a border with Chhattisgarh. Of the 15 Maoist sympathisers detained on Tuesday night, the Manuguru police detained seven persons, who were present at a public gathering discussing the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, armed with the information that they were militants of the CPI(ML). The police booked a case and took them into custody.
On April 4, the Cherla police detained four persons who were escaping on seeing the police personnel on the outskirts of Kalivery village. During the inquiry, the four persons were found to be sympathisers of the CPI Maoist party and working for the party.
“Depending on the threat perception, security has been increased at the sensitive polling locations. We are alert enough to prevent untoward incidents,” said a senior police official.
It may be recalled that on April 1, a civilian was killed in an explosion of a pressure landmine at Nuguru village in Venkatapuram mandal, when he accidentally stepped on it during a forest visit. Reports later emerged that it was planted by the extremists to target police personnel.
