Maoists looking to spread footprints in Telangana again

PEDDAPALLI: Is the Communist Party of India (Maoist) once again looking to spread its footprints in Telangana? There is a new-found sense of suspicion towards this end among the Telangana state police in the wake of some recent developments. Intelligence inputs on the sudden movement of a few Maoist squads and one of its top leaders in the state has become a cause for consternation for the law enforcing machinery.

The intelligence sources have already ascertained that the Adellu and Mangulu squads of the Maoists had well and truly infiltrated into Telangana. Adding to this, reports of Maoist central committee member and top leader Kankanala Rajireddy alias Venkatesh alias Dharmanna recently paying a clandestine visit to Peddapalli has prompted the district police authorities to swing into a state of high alert.

The news of Rajireddy's renewed movements into Peddapalli is certain to rub salt on the bruised pride of the state police. Two years ago, the security forces came close to apprehending Rajireddy during an exchange of fire at Musalammagutta in Mulugu district. However, the top Maoist leader managed to give the police a slip at the last moment and has since been eluding them like an eel. Rajireddy's renewed movements in Peddapalli district has raised serious suspicions of a possible Maoist plan to regroup and regain their hold on several key pockets of the state.

Interestingly, from an intelligence perspective, the spate of visits are perfectly timed with the Maoist Week, being observed in Chhattisgarh, which, the police consider, an ominous sign. The Maoists, who were forced to stay out of Telangana for well over a decade till now due to the meticulous implementation of an anti-extremist drive by the state police, have since been trying hard to get some foothold back in the state.

Aided by the alerts from the intelligence sources, the state police have been maintaining a tight vigil along the Godavari river besides the deep forest area of Adilabad district to pre-empt their infiltrations. The police also suspect that Rajireddy and his teams, during their latest visits, might have recced a few places in a bid to kill those who were involved in the jobs scam of Ramagundam fertilizers unit. The intelligence sources too have revealed that Rajireddy and his men had visited Basanth Nagar and the adjoining areas of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Peddapalli district.

The police also do not rule out the possibility of the Maoists extorting huge sums of money from several contractors during these visits. With the developments clearly pointing to a sudden spurt in Maoist activity, the Telangana police have intensified their intelligence operations in Peddapalli district besides beefing up the presence of special police forces.

Police intensify vehicle checks in Kotapally

In view of the Maoist Week call given by the banned outfit, vehicle checks and combing operations have been intensified in the Kotapally police limits of Adilabad district on Monday. Teams drawn from special party police, TSSP and the local police conducted combing operations in the forest area besides inspection of culverts and random vehicle checks. Those who failed to furnish details on their identity were being thoroughly grilled to elicit complete information. Kotapalli Sub-Inspector Venkat appealed to the general public on this occasion to immediately inform the police if they found the movement of any strangers in their neighbourhood.