The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Villagers up in arms against naxals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 03, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Villagers up in arms against naxals

By Our Staff Reporter

KARIMNAGAR, APRIL 2. In a courageous move, villagers of Manakondur, Thimmapur and Bejjanki mandal villages in the district raised a voice of revolt against the CPI (Maoist) and the CPI-ML Janashakthi group naxalites by taking out a massive rally and staging a dharna in front of the collectorate on Saturday.

They denounced violence and sought revival of highway patrolling, which was stopped following attack by naxals recently in Nalgonda district.

Cutting across party affiliations, local bodies' representatives, womenfolk and youth participated in the rally in large numbers. Villagers came in tractors, auto-rickshaws, etc. to Karimnagar town and went in a procession carrying placards and banners to the Collectorate raising slogans against the naxal violence.

They flayed the naxalites for resorting to mindless violence and killing unarmed highway patrolling police in Choutuppal of Nalgonda district.

They raised slogans of "Long live highway patrol police'', "pranalu theside naxalites, pranalu posede highway palice'' (naxalites kill people and the highway police save their lives).

Plea to emissaries

The rallyists also demanded naxal emissaries, Varavara Rao and Kalyana Rao to make a statement on protecting the unarmed highway police and also to own responsibility for any attack on them.

In a memorandum submitted to the Joint Collector, Christiana, the villagers asked the Government to revive highway patrolling.

"Highway patrolling had saved lives of several accident victims by shifting them in time to hospitals. Besides, highway patrolling had prevented many dacoities and robberies on the roads and adjoining areas."

The memorandum appealed to the naxalites not to target the unarmed highway police.

They also warned naxalites of serious action if they attacked any unarmed person in the district.

A sarpanch of Bejjanki mandal said that ever since highway-patrolling vehicles were withdrawn, accidents had been increasing with drivers parking vehicles on the highways parking lights.

"Now when mishaps occur, no vehicles come forward to shift victims to hospitals in time, thus resulting in their death." He also said that highway patrolling had prevented several illegal activities on the roads with their frequent checking of roads during the nights.

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