Hyderabad: In the first indication that the CPI Maoist is trying to regroup in Telangana state, police in Adilabad district were on Thursday caught in an exchange of fire with the left wing extremists.
Police said the encounter took place in Mangi forest area under Triyani Mandal this morning during a combing operation.
This is the first such incident in many years.
Bellampally additional superintendent Police Bhaskar Bhushan said that the suspected Maoists fled the scene after the encounter leaving behind 9 kit bags. Police suspect that some of the militants were injured in the incident and they were continuing their search operations in the area.
CPI Maoist state secretary Bandi Prakash was also believed to be among the Maoists present there.
Bhushan said that the combing was intensified in the area in view of the annual celebrations of Maoists and people were asked not to venture in to the forest. Police had received a tip off that a group of Maoists had entered the district from neighbouring Maharashtra.
“During the intensified combing this morning, the encounter took place”, Bhaskar Bhushan said.
The police have already sounded an alert in the district and asked elected representatives to be cautious in their movement.
Adilabad was one of the worst affected by the Maoist violence before their presence was uprooted in 2005 from the entire state. It was in fact such an important hot bed for the Maoist that the reign of left wing terror and violence had started in the state with a dramatic landmine blast in 1987 killing a large number of policemen.
In a related incident, Maoists installed a temporary “Martyrs Memorial” on a state highway in Khammam district and paid tributes there. The memorial with a red flag was in Bandirevu under Bhadrachalam mandal. Police believe that this was also part of the annual celebrations of Maoists organisation.
Earlier on June 19 neighbouring Andhra Pradesh had also witnessed its first major encounter in many years when police killed three Maoists in Nallamalla forest area on the borders of Guntur and Prakasham districts. Several other militants had managed to flee.
Police recovered an AK-47 one SLR, carbines and a .303 rifle and explosives from the scene.
Maoists have also indicated their presence in Mahbubnagar district by putting up posters in some of the villages recently.
“All these happenings indicate that Maoists were trying to return and resume their activities in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It underlines the need for closer cooperation and coordination between the two states in tackling the menace”, said a senior police official.
