BHADRACHALAM/HYDERABAD: IN a major attack, 10 members of the Maoist Party including two top leaders were gunned down in an alleged encounter by Greyhounds -- Telangana’s elite anti-Naxal force. The ‘encounter’ happened in the early hours of Friday in Thondapal forest area in Cherla mandal on Telangana- Chhattishgarh border. Greyhounds constable B Sushil Kumar, who hails from Vikarabad, was also killed in the gun battle. Notably, six of the slain Maoists are women.
The operation was carried out in collaboration with Chhattisgarh State Police. “We received credible information on the movement of members of the banned outfit in the forest area. Following this, members of Telangana and Chhattisgarh police launched a massive operation on Thursday night to track them down,” said Bhadradri Kothagudem SP Ambari Kishore Jha.
“Around 5 am, Maoists and police came face-to-face. They opened fire at police and we retaliated. The gun-battle continued for about two hours,” added Kishore Jha. “Later, we recovered 10 bodies and sophisticated arms including an AK 47, an SLR, five Insas rifles, one .303 rifle, two single bore rifles, three claymore mines, six rocket bombs, few detonators, one pistol, some kits bags, live ammunition of different caliber and party literature.
The members were carrying `41,000 in cash,” the officer added. The slain members include Maoist Party’s State secretary Haribhushan alias Jagan, his wife Sammakka, Khammam-Karimnagar-Warangal (KKW) zone secretary Damodar and Khammam district incharge Sambaiah among others. Police said that bodies of only three Maoists had been shifted to an hospital in Bhadrachalam by helicopter. The remaining would be shifted on Saturday, they added. “We are facing trouble moving the bodies as the forest is dense,” he added.
The post-mortem is likely to be conducted on Saturday at the Bhadrachalam area hospital. Meanwhile, responding to a PIL filed by Civil Liberties Committee president Gaddam Laxman who sought for the killing to be declared as illegal and unconstitutional, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court directed the Telangana government to video-record the post-mortem and hand over the bodies to relatives.
Haribhushan’s sister Bharathi and brother Y Ashok reached the hospital later in the day to identify their brother’s body. “He joined the Maoist Party way back in 1991 when we were kids.
We cannot identify him now. We rushed here after seeing the news flash on TV channels,” the siblings said speaking to Express. Meanwhile, civil rights activists, organisations and the CPI(ML) New Democracy party condemned the encounter, with the party alleging that the members were caught alive and killed later. Revolutionary writer P Varavara Rao termed it as a ‘fake encounter’ and ‘State-sponsored killing.’
Significant encounters
December 14, 2017: Eight extremists of CPI (Chandra Pulla Reddy -Baata), were killed in an encounter by police in Tekulapalli forests of Bhadradri Kothagudem district
December 6, 2017: Telangana police along with Maharashtra special forces killed seven Maoists, including five women in an encounter near Adilabad border with Maharashtra
Oct 24, 2016: Twenty four Maoists were killed in an encounter with a combined team of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha police in Malkangiri district of Odisha, near AP border.
September 15, 2016: Two Maoists were killed in encounter with police in Warangal district.
March 1, 2016: As many as eight Maoists were killed in an encounter on Khammam-Chhattisgarh border.
June 29, 2008: The Maoist party members attacked a boat carrying 60 Greyhound commandoes on Balimela reservoir in Odisha killing 38 persons, while 26 survived .
HC orders recording of post-mortem
Hyderabad: Responding to a PIL filed by Civil Liberties Committee president Gaddam Laxman, who sought the killing of Maoists to be declared as unconstitutional, a division bench of the Hyderabad HC directed the Telangana government to video-record the post-mortem and hand over the bodies to relatives.
It’s a fake encounter, alleges Varavara
Hyderabad: Revolutionary writer Varavara Rao said that the state police forces detained the Maoists and took them to border areas of Chhattisgarh, tortured and killed them in a fake encounter. The TRS govt said they would implement Maoist’s agenda. But however, the government is now murdering Maoists in fake encounters, he alleged.
High alert sounded in border areas
Bhadrachalam: A high alert was sounded on Telangana- Chhattisgarh border villages following the encounter in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Friday morning. Suspecting that the Maoists may take revenge, the state police intensified combing operations for escaped Maoists and sealed the entire border with Chhattisgarh.