VIJAYAWADA: A little over a week after the assassination of Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma by Maoists in the Visakhapatnam agency area, the State police are on the verge of a major breakthrough.
Sources associated with the ongoing investigation confirmed to TNIE that they have zeroed in on a “person of interest” -- a former MPTC member from Totting, a village hardly four km from the Odisha border, in Dumbriguda mandal.
The local leader had joined the TDP in 2013 and shockingly, was a close associate of the slain legislator.
“The village is close to the Odisha border than the mandal headquarters. In the agency area, anybody who is somebody, particularly in politics, has to operate with the knowledge of Maoists. At the very least, they have to follow live and let live policy vis-a-vis the Maoists. We tolerate to that extent. But this man went to the extent of providing logistical support to Maoists,” the sources said. It appears that the former MPTC member was also aware of what the Maoists were up to and even then, neither warned the MLA nor alerted the police.
The police are reportedly questioning him to extract more information.
“He claims he cooperated with the Maoists out of fear and is not revealing anything more,” the sources revealed. He is likely to be arrested soon. Caught off-guard by the sudden attack by the Maoists, the State police are now on a mission to track down the fugitive ultras. It is reliably learnt that the elite anti-Maoist force, Greyhounds, are combing the agency area, even on the Odisha side.
From the available evidence, the police are more or less convinced that the legislator was killed by the Maoists to create a sensation and assert their identity.
“There are two possible motives. One is the existential question... the need to assert their identity in the area. Two, it is meant to be a blow to the political process or democratic politics in the area. They do not want democratic politics in the area,” the sources reasoned.
The suspicion that the TDP legislator was killed on account of his connection to some quarries in the region also does not hold water, they said, pointing out that there are seven stone quarries and eight other quarries in Araku constituency alone, not to forget the over 300 quarries in the entire district.
They couldn’t possibly kill all of the owners, the sources said, recalling that the former MLA was also killed apparently without any strong reason.
The continued silence of the Maoists after the twin murders is also puzzling but a senior police official, on condition of anonymity, said in all probability, the Maoists do want to issue a statement claiming responsibility.
“I give them the benefit of doubt. They are on the run and most likely, unable to send the statement to the press,” he opined.
Even as the probe picks up steam, the State police are setting their house in order and have taken the Maoist bounce back seriously.
DGP RP Thakur is going to visit Odisha shortly to coordinate with the police force there to nail down the Maoists.
“Just the way the killing of Rajiv Gandhi was the beginning of the end of the LTTE, we will treat the killing of the MLA as the beginning of the end of Maoists in the area. We will not rest until they are completely finished,” the senior official vowed.