KHAMMAM: Just a week after the police and members of the Maoist party exchanged fire in the erstwhile district on July 15, the cadre of the banned outfit set ablaze two vehicles that were being used for road construction work between Tippapuram and Battinapalli villages under Cherla mandal in Bhadrachalam Agency area late on Tuesday night.
As the incident happened after a 12-month lull, the residents of the Agency area have been terrorised.
It has to be mentioned here that the vehicles were set ablaze just 15 km away from the Chhattisgarh border and 10 km away from Cherla mandal headquarters.
According to sources, as many as 10 armed Maoists reached the site late on Tuesday night and asked the construction workers to leave the area. Later, they poured diesel on a road roller and a bulldozer and set them on fire. The construction workers who witnessed the entire incident said that while leaving the place, the Maoists asked them to make the ensuing Martyrs’ Memorial Week celebrations, set to begin on July 28, a success.
When contacted, the officials concerned said that the works pertaining to the aforementioned five km road, connecting Tippapuram and Battinapalli villages in Cherla mandal, was taken up by the Roads and Buildings Department at an estimated cost of Rs 5.40 crore under a scheme envisaged for the development areas affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE). Almost 70 per cent works have been completed, they added.
Soon after learning about the incident, the authorities deployed additional forces of CRPF in the area, who have taken up massive combing operations. The Bhadrachalam Agency police have also swung into action and are carrying out vehicle checks.
Ahead of Martyrs’ Memorial Week
The construction workers said that while leaving the place, the Maoists asked them to make the ensuing Martyrs’ Memorial Week celebrations, set to begin on July 28, a success