Maoist killed in encounter with Telangana police near Chhattisgarh border

A 25-year old CPI (Maoist) activist was killed in an alleged encounter with the police in Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district in the early hours of Thursday, the police said.

The incident happened in the dense forests of Devallagudem of Gundala block at around 4.15 am. “We have seized a weapon and a motorcycle from the incident spot,” district superintendent of police Sunit Dutt said in a statement.

Though the SP said that the Maoist is yet to be identified, the police suspect that he could be Dudi Devalu alias Shakar of Dulodu village of Kistaram area in Chhattisgarh state and was believed to be the guard of top Maoist leader Haribhushan.

The encounter took place at a time when Telangana director general of police M Mahender Reddy is on an intensive tour of Maoist-affected areas of Asifabad-Kumaram Bheem districts for the last two days.

Sunil Dutt said the police forces were combing the Devallagudem forests following a tip off that some action teams of Maoists were actively moving in the villages on the borders of Chhattisgarh.

“At around 4.15 am on Thursday, Gundala Inspector of Police Srinivas and his team noticed two persons riding on a motorcycle suspiciously. When the police asked them to stop, they left the bike and started running into the forests. As the police chased them, the two opened fire at the police. In retaliation, the police forces also fired at them,” the SP said.

Later, the police found the dead body of a 25-year old male Maoist. A firearm and the bike were seized, Dutt said, adding that several Maoists in the surroundings had fled the spot. “The combing operations are on,” he said.

This is the second encounter in recent times in the district. An exchange fire had taken place on July 16 in the forests of Malletogu in Manugur mandal in the district in which a constable was injured.

Meanwhile, the DGP held a series of meetings with senior police officials, including in-charge SP of Asifabad Satyanarayana, and discussed the strategies in the wake of report that top Maoist leader of Telangana regional committee Mailaram Odellu alias Bhaskar has intensified recruitment of cadre in the border areas of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

Earlier, the DGP had an aerial review of the forest areas abutting Pranahita river on Maharashtra-Telangana borders, along with Adilabad SP Vishnu Warrior.

This is the second time that the DGP visited the border areas. In the second week of July, too, Reddy spent three days in the north-Telangana districts to work out strategies to prevent the entry of Maoists back into Telangana.