A day after 10 guerrillas of the Communist Party of India- Maoist were killed in a gunfight with the police in Telangana's Jayashankar Bhupalapally district, the banned outfit has reportedly threatened to avenge the deaths.
A letter, seemingly issued by the outfit's official spokesperson, Jagan, is doing the rounds and states that it would 'intensify' its attach against TRS leaders and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
"For giving water and land to corporate companies, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is conducting fake encounters. Henceforth, we will intensify our attack on TRS leaders. Hindutva leader Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh Chief Minister), dictator KCR together are eliminating Adivasis, those who question, by indulging in attacks," the letter was quoted as saying.
“Comrade Hari Bhushan, Bade Chokka Rao alias Damodar and K Raji Reddy did not die in the encounter as the police was falsely propagating," the letter added.
Meanwhile, officials said that seven out of the ten bodies had been identified after a postmorterm was conducted at the Area hospital in Badrachalam.
Strict security was maintained and the entire process was also videographed as per instructions of the Hyderabad High Court, which is hearing a petition on the killings.
While two of the bodies were identified as natives of Telangana, the rest of the deceased hailed from Chhattisgarh.
The police said that these bodies would be handed over to the Chhattisgarh police, who would in turn, hand it over to their families.
The exchange of fire between the Maoists and a joint police team of the two states ensued in the forest near Venkatapuram village in Tadapalagutta-Pujarikanker area on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border as security forces launched combing operations after a tip-off.
As per a statement from the Telangana Director General of Police office, the Maoists opened fire, to which police retaliated in self-defence.
One AK-47 rifle, five Insas rifles, one self-loading rifle, two single-bore rifles, one .303 rifle, one pistol, one Sony radio, Rs 41,000, three claymore mines, six rocket bombs, two solar plates, besides empty cartridges, and live ammunition of different calibre were seized from the scene.
The killed police official was identified as Greyhounds Constable Sushil Kumar. Three injured police personnel were airlifted to Bhadrachalam town. The bodies of the Maoists were also shifted to the town for autopsy.
Additional forces were rushed to the area to launch combing operations as some Maoists escaped into forest.
The Maoist movement had considerably weakened in the undivided Andhra Pradesh since 2005 when the police launched massive operations and eliminated several top leaders following the collapse of the ceasefire and first-ever talks between then state government and the Maoists.
IANS inputs