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Andhra Pradesh’s Additional Director General (Intelligence) Mahesh Chandra Laddha said that the police will continue to strive to make AP a “Maoist-free state”. His statement came on November 19, after 13 alleged members of the CPI (Maoist) were killed in Andhra Pradesh in two days.
When asked about the March 2026 deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to “eliminate Naxalism” in India, the ADG said the state police was working towards that goal.
“We are sure March 2026 is an achievable target after yesterday’s encounter. It is a big blow to Maoist ideology and movement. I am sure a lot of people will come out voluntarily to join the mainstream,” he said.
On November 18, security forces killed top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, his wife Madakam Raje, and four others in Alluri Sitharama Raju district near the Odisha border. The next day, seven others were killed in the same area. Nearly 50 alleged Maoist cadres were also arrested on November 18 in five districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Left parties, activists and others have condemned the extrajudicial killings by security forces through the anti-Maoist operations. They have also questioned if there were unarmed local residents among those killed.
“I assure the public we don’t have any Maoists in Andhra Pradesh. Whoever is there in the forests after yesterday’s encounter, we will try to neutralise them,” the ADG said.
ADG Laddha said that due to sustained anti-Maoist operations by security forces in Chhattisgarh, Maoists were trying to take shelter in Andhra Pradesh He said that they had plans to revive the movement from the Andhra-Odisha border area.
Laddha also said they had intelligence input about movement of Maoists from Chhattisgarh and Telangana, and that they were keeping a continuous watch.
The intelligence chief said in continuation of that, 50 Maoists were arrested in NTR, Krishna, Eluru, Kakinada and Konaseema districts on November 18.
Police presented the arrested persons before the media on November 19. All of them were from Chhattisgarh, they said.
Those arrested include three special zonal committee members, 23 platoon members, five divisional committee members and 19 area committee members, according to the police.
Police said the members arrested include 27 members of the Maoist battalion headed by Hidma. The other group was from South Bastar, and the third group was the local cadre of Chhattisgarh, they said.
The police said they seized 45 weapons, 272 rounds of ammunition, 20 pellets and 280 cartridges, two magazines, four knives, 750 grams of wire, communication equipment and Maoist literature.
“As per the information we have, they were initially planning to use Andhra Pradesh as a shelter zone, a safe area, get arms and ammunition and start movement from the Andhra Odisha border,” the ADG said.
He also revealed that police used drones in the operation on November 18 to arrest the Maoists. The services of OCTOPUS and Greyhounds personnel, specialised in house intervention, were used.
He dismissed the criticism that the police did not know about the presence of so many Maoists. “We had our intelligence. We were keeping track and were waiting for the right opportunity to strike. We arrested them in two hours because we knew the details. We did not want to spoil everything by acting prematurely,” he said.
The ADG said that if the police had acted prematurely, they could have probably missed many people.
“We were keeping a track of who was coming, why they were coming, where they were staying and what they were planning. We were keeping silent and observing everything,” he said.
ADG Laddha said that the state police and intelligence network are all alert to safeguard the state. “Whatever we are doing is towards the goal of making Andhra Pradesh Maoist-free,” he said.
He said that they expect a huge number of surrenders in the coming days and weeks.
He denied that CPI (Maoist) Central Committee Secretary Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji had surrendered.
“We don’t have any information on where Devuji is now. He must be in Chhattisgarh or Telangana. He is not with us. We arrested his protection team. Once we talk to them, we will come to know what their plan was,” he said.
While not ruling out retaliatory action by Maoists, the intelligence chief said the police were taking all precautions. “We have alerted all intelligence units and advised public representatives in agency areas to have a re-look at their security.”
With IANS inputs
