Kothagudem: Police unearth 110 booby traps set up by Maoists

Kothagudem: Police have unearthed as many as 110 booby traps set up by Maoists in the forests in Cherla mandal on Telangana-Chhattisgarh borders in Kothagudem district. Inspector of Police (CI) B Ashok in a statement on Wednesday stated that Cherla police, Special Party personnel and 141 Bn ‘A’ Coy CRPF personnel jointly carried out a […]

Kothagudem: Police have unearthed as many as 110 booby traps set up by Maoists in the forests in Cherla mandal on Telangana-Chhattisgarh borders in Kothagudem district.

Inspector of Police (CI) B Ashok in a statement on Wednesday stated that Cherla police, Special Party personnel and 141 Bn ‘A’ Coy CRPF personnel jointly carried out a combing operation in the forests and found the booby traps laid in the hillocks near Yarrampadu village.

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The police team removed and seized over 500 iron and wooden spikes planted in 110 pits. Maoists threatened and forced villagers of Puttaparthi, Pesarlapadu, Nimmalagudem, Jettepadu and other villages along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh state border to dig pits to plant booby traps, he said.

Maoists are setting up booby traps targetting the police personnel. But the booby traps have been injuring and killing cattle and innocent tribal people when they unknowingly stepped on the traps.

Many people from Pusuguppa, Battinapalli, Chennapuram, Yarrampadu, Cherla and other villages have suffered severe injuries and lost limbs because of booby traps and IED explosions, Ashok said.

He noted that in the absence of cooperation from the local tribals, Maoists were engaging tribals of Chhattisgarh in such activities. The tribal village elders were being forced to set up village committees, to form a militia, to prevent the construction of roads to the villages in the forests.

Ashok stated that the tribals do not like to work in the Maoist party now. The tribals were seeking development of their villages, education to their children, medical and road facilities, implementation of government welfare programmes and employment opportunities.

Many migrant tribal village committee members and militia members, who once worked for the Maoist party in Chennapuram, Yarrampadu, Battigudem, Rallapuram, Battinapalli and Burugupadu, have changed their thinking and voluntarily surrendered to the police, he added.

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