RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM/VISAKHAPATNAM: In a major setback to the Maoist movement in Andhra Pradesh, three senior leaders of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) were killed in an exchange of fire with the elite Greyhounds force in the dense forest region near Kintukuru village in Devipatnam mandal of Alluri Sitarama Raju district on Wednesday.
The deceased have been identified as Gajarla Ravi, also known as Uday or Ganesh, a Central Committee member; Ravi Venkata Chaitanya, alias Aruna, East Division Secretary and member of the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC); and Anji, alias Narmadakka, a Maoist leader from Chhattisgarh. Aruna was the wife of senior Maoist leader Chalapati, alias Ramachandra Reddy, who was killed in an encounter in the Dandakaranya region earlier.
Police sources said the encounter occurred in Kintukuru, about 100 km from Rajamahendravaram. Acting on credible intelligence that a group of around 16–20 Maoists had assembled in the area, the Greyhounds launched a combing operation in the early hours. The location is approximately 30 km from the Polavaram Project site.
Following the incident, additional police forces were deployed along key routes, including Bhadrachalam Road, Chinturu–Kunta Road, Devipatnam to Rampachodavaram, and the Polavaram project area, to prevent any possible movement of Maoists. Police believe that some leaders from AP and Telangana who were present at the meeting may have escaped during the gunfire.
According to ASR police, the bodies are being transported to the Rampachodavaram Hospital for postmortem.
Officials noted that the terrain is inaccessible by vehicles, and the bodies had to be carried on foot for nearly 15–20 km before being moved by road. Senior police officials, including Rampachodavaram OSD Jagadeesh Adahalli and Maredumilli CI Gopalakrishna, are overseeing the operations and confirmed that combing efforts will continue in the surrounding forest areas.
Maoist leaders who took part in peace talks with govt, no more
With the death of 62-year-old Gajarla Ravi, a Central Committee member of the Maoists, the peace talks conducted during former Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure in united Andhra Pradesh in 2005, have now become a thing of the past. All three top Maoist leaders who had participated in the talks, Politburo member Akkiraju Ramakrishna, Gajarla Ravi, and T Sudhakar, have been eliminated.
Gajarla Ravi was known as one of the Maoists’ key military strategists. He, along with Politburo member Akkiraju Ramakrishna, had escaped an encounter in Malkangiri in 2012. However, Ramakrishna died of an illness a few years ago, while T Sudhakar, who hailed from Eluru district, was recently killed in an encounter in Dandakaranya.
Four brothers from the Gajarla family were actively involved in the Naxalite movement since 1990. Gajarla Ravi belonged to Velishala in Jayashankar Bhupalpally of Telangana.
Ganesh’s father, Malliah, and mother, Kanakamma, were from the Gouda community and had fought against landlords in Velishala village. Malliah’s eldest son, Rajaiah, joined the People’s War Group and died due to illness. The second son, Sammaiah, worked in the Singareni Collieries and later settled in Warangal district. The third son, Saraiah alias Azad, was a top Naxalite who gave sleepless nights to security forces, was killed in an encounter in the Kanthanapally forest area near Eturnagaram in Warangal district in 2008. His wife, Padma, also died in the encounter.
Azad was a Central Committee member and in-charge of the Central Military Commission at the time. Another son, Ashok, worked as a dalam member in the People’s War Group (PWG) and surrendered to the police in Hyderabad a few years ago.