In an attempt to crack down on information passing through to the police and intelligence agencies, Maoists operating from the border of Telangana and Chhattisgarh are checking for cell phones owned by villagers in the remote areas.
Maoists suspect that the recent police crackdown including the encounters are happening, as villagers with phones are passing on information about their whereabouts.
According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, the Maoists are taking the phones and checking who all have contacts with the police in areas under Charla, Vazed, Dummugudema and Venkatapuram mandals, warning those who have the police’s numbers with them and seizing the phones.
Quoting sources, the report also adds that all these villages were located in the border areas of Dantewada and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh and at least 100 phones were seized from the locals.
Local police had earlier tried to befriend villagers on the border, even giving cell phones to a few of them, in a bid to crack down on the Maoists.
Khammam, one of the northernmost districts of Telangana, seems to be where the activities of Maoists are concentrated, most of them spread across the long interstate border with both Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.