Gadchiroli encounter puts police in Telangana too on tenterhooks

Ramagundam Commissioner of Police M Srinivasulu told 'Telangana Today' that three companies comprising around 60 policemen were deployed on the borders of Telangana to bar the Maoists from entering Mancherial district in search of shelter.

Mancherial: Police have intensified combing operations in bordering areas of both Telangana and Maharashtra to track some more extremists who reportedly escaped unhurt in an exchange of fire between police and Maoists at Kolamarka hillocks near Repanpalli village of Aheri Taluq in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on Monday.

Police officials suspected that the surviving extremists might have drifted towards neighboring Chhattisgarh by crossing Indravati river after the exchange of fire. The incident, however, has become a cause for concern to the police as Telangana is poised to see Lok Sabha elections in May. In particular, the fact that the Maoists entered Gadchiroli by crossing borders of Telangana put police on tenterhooks.

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Ramagundam Commissioner of Police M Srinivasulu told ‘Telangana Today‘ that three companies comprising around 60 policemen were deployed on the borders of Telangana to bar the Maoists from entering Mancherial district in search of shelter. He stated that anti-sabotage checks, area domination, aerial viewing, etc, were simultaneously being taken up as part of steps to prevent untoward incidents in view of the polls.

Police officers felt that stepping up vigil on ferrying points on banks of Pranahita, situated on the borders of Telangana and Maharashtra, in Vemanapalli and Kotapalli mandal, introduction of a drone-based surveillance and creation of robust intelligence system in view of coming Lok Sabha polls deterred the ultras from entering Mancherial district.

Senior police officials maintained that the Maoists might have slipped into Kumram Bheem Asifabad district by crossing Pranahita river and chalked an action plan to disturb the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. They are yet to ascertain the exact entry point, sources of shelter, duration of the stay in this region and when they crept into the district. They, however, sounded an alert after learning that the Maoists had entered Maharastra by crossing Pranahita river from Telangana before the exchange of fire.

As for Monday’s incident, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Nilotpal Basu said that a contingent of around 200 armed men including multiple teams of C-60, a specialised combat unit of the Gadchiroli police, and the Central Reserve Police Force’s Quick Action team have been deployed at Kolamarka hillocks and surrounding forests to trace the outlawed Maoists who managed to flee the spot. He stated that the outcome of the operations would be disclosed by evening.

The deceased Naxalites were identified as Varghese, a secretary of Mangi-Indervelli, Kumram Bheem and Mancherial Divisional Committee, Magtu, a member of Sirpur-Chennur Area Committee and Kursang Raju and Kudimetta Venkatesh, both platoon members. They were carrying a collective cash reward of Rs 36 lakh on their heads.

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