Kerala NIA raids houses of RK, Virasam Kalayan Rao in AP

AMARAVATI: The National Investigating Agency (NIA) conducted raids on the houses of Maoist Party of India top leader late Ramakrishna (RK) and Revolutionary Writers Association (Virasam) senior functionary Kalyana Rao in Prakasam district on Tuesday. Simultaneous searches were being carried out at their residences, located at Aalakurapadu of Tanguturu mandal.

The raids, which began at around 6:39 am and continuing till reports last came in, were being carried out by the NIA's Kerala wing in connection with a case registered in their state. The details of the nature of the case and under what sections are not immediately known.

According to information, a large contingent of close to 200 NIA sleuths have swooped down on Aalakurapadu, suggesting the seriousness being attached to this particular operation. It is not very clear at this moment if the Andhra Pradesh police were kept in the loop about the raids. But the sudden presence of the large NIA posse certainly took everyone by surprise, including the residents of this sleepy village.

RK's wife Sirisha lives in the house where the raids were being conducted. The Maoist leader's widow, it is reported, was not present in the house when the NIA team came down. Realising that the house was locked, the central agency team made a forcible entry inside by breaking the main door.

On the other hand, Virasam leader Kalyan Rao, who was in his house located nearby, cooperated with the NIA sleuths to go ahead with their searches. Aalakurapadu is the native village of both RK and Kalyan Rao, who also happen to be relatives. Ramakrishna, popularly known as RK, spent all his life away from the mainstream and died about an year ago following prolonged illness.

The NIA was also conducting searches at the residence of Dhuddu Prabhakar, President of Council for the struggle against casteism, in Vijayawada on Tuesday.The raids began early in the morning and were going on even in the afternoon. The Vijayawada police have made heavy security arrangements in the area in view of the central agency searches.