The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Naxals attack police station

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 12, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Naxals attack police station

Staff Reporter

Rocket launchers used, traffic on main road in Guntur paralysed

DURGI (GUNTUR DT.): The Communist Party of India (Maoist) attacked the Durgi police station in Guntur district at midnight on Tuesday with two rocket launchers and several hand grenades. No one was injured.

The police personnel in the station repulsed the attack with gunfire, which resulted in a minor injury to a truck driver.

Some 30 militants in civil dress arrived in two lorries and launched attack on the police station, and police quarters from the rear side.

Slight damage

There was slight damage to the main police station building, and furniture in the Sub-Inspector's (Usman) house was destroyed. The Maoists fled the scene after half-an-hour.

The entire area from Durgi to Adigoppula in the district turned out to be a war zone in the early hours of Wednesday after the Maoist Commander (of `Liberated Palnadu' region), Suresh, and his associates stopped traffic on the Ongole-Hyderabad road.

They put banners asking the police to stop alleged atrocities against villagers, and daringly planted landmines at culverts, roadsides and placed some on the road itself.

Vehicle tyres were burnt and boulders used to block traffic.

Maoists emerge

When reporters arrived at one of the blockades, three revolver-welding Maoists emerged from the darkness of Anjaneyaswamy temple, 1.2 km from Durgi police station, and took scribes to the staircase of the temple to talk to Suresh while keeping a watch on the movements of people who had gathered there from the stranded 50-odd buses.

Suresh, clad in printed lungi, had every electronic gadget on him and was supervising the laying of wires and placing of landmines.

At Adigoppula junction near the martyr's memorial, the road was closed to traffic.

All militants in their teens did their work quickly and with precision, shouting anti-police slogans.

Field day

While 21 policemen with their arms were taking rest in the Durgi police station, after repulsing attack from the Maoists, the naxalites were having a field day.

For most of the bus passengers it was the first occasion to watch naxalites from close range.

Several people came on to the road and sat under the open sky trying to provide proper sleep to wailing children.

After a couple of hours of wait, they were told to take a diversion.

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