KORAPUT: Members of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, who had come to Koraput district to ascertain facts about Kitubakanti police encounter, were detained by people near Janiguda under Semiliguda police limits on Saturday. Terming them as pro-Maoists and anti-people, locals of Pitaguda and Naryanpatna asked five members of the team why they did not visit when innocent civilians were killed by Maoists.
On May 8, five Maoists including three women armed cadres were shot dead in an encounter with Special Operation Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force (DVF) in Andhra-Odisha bordering area under Padwa police limits. The operation was launched by security personnel in Kitubakanti forest of the district. All the cadres were suspected to be belonging to Nandapur area committee of Koraput division. All of them carried awards on their heads.
On the other hand, the committee members alleged that it was a fake encounter staged by the police. Accusing the police of remaining silent on their illegal detention by locals, they said it was police who plotted to oppose their visit.The team comprised Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee president Chiti Babu, joint secretary Sriman Narayan, member J Raghuram, secretary Chandra Sekhar and Telengana Civil Liberty secretary Naryan Rao.