VISAKHAPATNAM: “I am proud of my son. He laid down his life fighting for the underprivileged,” said Padma alias Sirisha, wife of top Maoist leader Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna alias RK. Their son Munna (25) was among the 24 Maoists killed in the encounter with security forces in the area between Panasputtu and Bejjangi region in Malkangiri district on Monday.
Sirisha, a former Maoist, said the attack was pre-planned to eliminate the Maoists and alleged that the police, without taking the rebels head-on, had struck from behind. The bereaved woman recalled that her son had always believed in living for others. Rights activist Varavara Rao, meanwhile, stopped here on his way to Malkangiri to mediate with the police authorities on behalf of the slain Maoists. Speaking to reporters at the late writer Chalasani Prasad’s residence, he reiterated that it was a fake encounter.
He alleged that the police had eliminated the Maoists as the latter were against bauxite mining proposed by the State government. According to him, the police personnel surrounded the Maoists and shot them dead in cold-blood. The revolutionary writer also alleged that the police had caught some Maoists alive on Monday and were killing them one by one in the name of encounter.
The family members of Maoist leader Gajarla Ravi, RK’s wife Sirisha, Varavara Rao and a few others went to Malkangiri to identify the bodies and take them back to their native places. The family members also took two to three ambulances along for transporting the bodies.