The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Naxals blast two TDP leaders' buildings

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Naxals blast two TDP leaders' buildings

By Our Staff Reporter

NALGONDA, MAY 4. Naxalites of the People's War "launched'' their post-poll retaliatory violence by blasting two buildings belonging to two ruling party leaders at Murupunootala and New Kambalapally villages of Chandampet mandal last night.

According to the information reaching here, the houses of Sankepalli Veera Reddy, Chairman, District Cooperative Marketing Society (DCMS), of Murupunootala and Kankati Peda Bodaiah, member, Kambalapally Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC), were completely destroyed in the blasts. About 40 naxals participated in these two separate incidents and the loss was put at about Rs. 5.5 lakhs.

About 30 naxals carrying weapons descended on the Kambalapally village in the evening and straightaway reached Mr. Bodaiah's abandoned building. They planted gelatin sticks around the house and blasted it after asking the residents of nearby houses to vacate the place immediately.

The Krishnapatti dalam has been vigorously searching for the MPTC member ever since Siraj, a renegade naxal, disclosed to the media that the former was involved in a `covert operation' chalked out by the district police.

He also said that the police higher ups had asked him to collect poison bottle from Mr. Bodaiah to eliminate the PW's top brass.

Fearing a backlash from the PW, Mr. Bodaiah, was taking shelter at an undisclosed place along with his family members.

Before leaving Kambalapally village, naxals interacted with some of the villagers for more than two hours and reportedly interrogated a vegetable vendor, Ramulamma, who, according to them, was moving closely with the police and the TDP leaders. They gave her a warning that she should mend her ways lest she should be killed.

At Murupunoothala, a group of 8 to 10 naxals attacked the DCMS chairman's house at 10 p.m. and asked her mother and son to vacate the building. The naxals prevented them from taking out the furniture and other valuables. Later they planted gelatin sticks and detonators in the house and blasted it. At the same time, Mr. Veera Reddy was participating in the TDP review meeting at Devarakonda.

The naxals at both places reportedly declared that the TDP leaders who had participated in the elections process by defying their warnings would be punished soon.

Fearing an ambush or a landmine trap by the naxals, however, the police did not reach the villages till the night.

The former MP and the party candidate for the Nalgonda Assembly segment, Gutta Sukhender Reddy, appealed to the naxals to stop indulging in acts of violence directed against the TDP activists.

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