Kothagudem Police arrest five Maoists militia members in Cherla

The arrested five were involved in planting booby traps in the forests near Ramachandrapuram in Cherla mandal during PLGA Week last year.

Kothagudem: Police have arrested five militia members of outlawed CPI (Maoist) party in Cherla mandal in the district on Saturday.

They were arrested at Yerrampadu forest area in the mandal during a joint combing operation by Cherla police, special party personnel along with CRPF 81Bn and CRPF 141Bn, Superintendent of Police, Dr. Vineeth G told the media here.

The arrested militia members, Vedama Bhimaiah, Sodi Mooya, Podiam Adamaiah and Punem Nagesh of Nimmalagudem and Madakam Nagesh of Jattapadu under the limits of Kistaram police station in Chhattisgarh State, have been working as Revolutionary People’s Committee (RPC) members for the past two years.

The above five were involved in planting booby traps in the forests near Ramachandrapuram in Cherla mandal during PLGA Week last year. The Maoists who lost their base in Telangana were recruiting innocent adivasis of Chhattisgarh and engaging them in unlawful tasks, the SP said.

Adivasis were being used to harm their people. As Telangana adivasis and others rejected Maoists Chhattisgarh adivasis were being to threaten, extort money and kill adivasis in the State branding them as police informers.

Adivasis, who were killed by the naxals recently in Kothagudem and Mulug districts used to work for the development of their habitations. If anyone was found supporting the Maoists directly or indirectly strict action would be taken against such persons, Dr. Vineeth warned.

Many underground cadres surrendered to the police after realising the falsity of Maoist ideology and that there was no support to naxals from the public. If the underground cadres want to surrender to police they could contact their nearest police station or the SP office through their relatives, he said.

Additional SP (Operations) T Sai Manohar, Bhadrachalam ASP Akshansh Yadav, CRPF 141Bn additional commandant Kamalveer Yadav, Cherla CI B Ashok and others were present.