The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Police resume poster campaign against naxals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 09, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Police resume poster campaign against naxals

N. Rahul

Move follows violence, breakdown of discussions

HYDERABAD: The police have resumed the poster campaign against the naxalites, like it was being done in the case of `wanted criminals.'

This was a common practice in the Telugu Desam rule but it was discontinued after the Congress assumed power. The Government's soft approach towards naxalites till December last prevented the police from taking up any such activity. But the situation has changed following the breakdown of talks and resumption of violence.

A poster published by the Mahabubnagar police has invited information from the public about Konapuri Ilaiah alias Sambasivudu, CPI (Maoist) district secretary. It also announced a reward to anyone passing on information about him. The poster with a photograph of Sambasivudu in olive-green uniform said he was involved in several killings.

Strong suspicion

The Mahbubnagar Superintendent of Police, Vikram Singh Mann, said Sambasivudu's involvement was strongly suspected in the series of offences committed by the Maoists in the district in the last few months. He said the district police had come out with ten different posters.

They were now also circulating a handbook to `targets' of naxalites on do's and don'ts. Tips on how to improve their security cover and latest photographs of underground cadre were published. The targets were advised not to travel too much or spend long hours at a single destination. A poster brought out by the Warangal police appealed to the public to be wary about an eight-member action team of the Maoists. The Warangal SP, Stephen Ravindra, said the campaign was taken up a few days ago.

Pictorial depiction

The Guntur SP, Jitender, said the district police would bring out a pictorial depiction of the destructive activity of naxalites through a poster. The unique poster to be released in a week would be a campaign against naxalism. The Khammam SP, Bhavna Saxena, said the police would display the posters in the forest soon. The idea was to reach out to the naxalites themselves with messages from their parents.

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