The Hindu : Naxalites target Government offices

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Naxalites target Government offices

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, MARCH 20. People's War naxalites blasted the Mandal Revenue Office and the Panchayat Raj Deputy Executive Engineer's Office located in the same building and torched a private jeep belonging to a Telugu Desam party worker at Pedabayalu in the agency area of the district in the wee hours of Saturday.

According to a police spokesman, a group of 15 to 20 naxalites went to the MRO and PR Deputy EE offices around 2.30 a.m. They brought out the records from the latter's office and burnt them, and then blasted the building using mines.

Later, the naxalites, suspected to belonging to the Pedabayalu dalam and operating in Pedabayalu, about 30 km from Paderu and close to the Orissa border, torched a jeep owned by the TDP worker. The naxalites then left the scene raising slogans giving a call to make the ongoing Protest Week being observed by them a success, and to boycott the elections, the spokesman said.

Our Adilabad Correspondent reports: In the first election-related naxalite act of violence in the district, four extremists of the People's War (PGA 7th platoon) late on Friday torched earth-moving machinery belonging private persons.

Besides giving a call for boycott of the coming elections, the PW sought support to make the March 22 bandh in 10 States a success. The naxalites left posters at the scene, near Ginnedhari village in Tiryani mandal.

According to Superintendent of Police, Mahesh M. Bhagwat, four armed naxalites went to the campsite of the Ginnedhari bridge, about half km from Ginnedhari village on the new Ginnedhari-Tiryani road. They called out the watchman, Laxman, and asked him to bring the jeep on the road. Meanwhile, they also stopped two lorries coming towards them. The naxalites burnt the vehicles and then set on fire an excavator which was stationed some distance away.

Earlier this year a bamboo-laden lorry was burnt by naxalites at Govena village to protest the encounter of Raghu, an action team member on February 10. In 2002, naxalites burnt earth-moving machinery twice in the Goleti coal mines area and machinery belonging to the Border Roads Organisation at Chennur.In

2003, excavators, tippers and jeeps were also burnt at Nennel, Dahegaon and twice in Associated Cement Companies and once on Orient Cement Company premises in Kasipet in Mancherial sub-division.

Exchange of fire

A report from Khammam said a police party combing the Gundala forests in the district had an exchange of fire with naxalites of the CPUSI (Veeranna faction) near Shambunigudem around 8 a.m. on Saturday.

The police party recovered four kitbags, party literature and utensils meant for cooking from the place. No casualties were reported on either side.

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Andhra Pradesh