Andhra Pradesh   

Five Maoists killed in encounter near A.P. border

Staff reporter

Information provided by Chhattisgarh police proves invaluable

KHAMMAM: Five Maoists were killed in an encounter with the police in the Mamanur hills, close to the Chhattisgarh border, on Sunday morning.

Three women cadre were among those killed. They were said to be members of the Khammam Local Guirrella Squad operating along the inter-state border. A lone member of the dalam managed to escape with his weapon.

The encounter took place when a combing party ran into the naxalites. The police recovered two 303 rifles, three guns and five kitbags from the scene.

Khammam LGS commander Shyam is suspected to be among the dead. The identity of the slain naxalites was yet to be established. A cluster of villages perched on the Mamanur hills, 15 km from Venkatapram, is more or less cut off from rest of the district. A steel ladder laid by the Singareni Collieries two decades ago is the only link connecting the hill-top habitations with the plains.

Sneak attack

The Khammam police, who had been conducting joint operations with the Chhattisgarh police by sharing information on the movements of naxalites, raided the place in the early hours, taking the extremists by surprise. The exchange of fire lasted nearly half an hour.

Superintendent of Police Rajiv Kumar Meena and other senior officials reached Bhadrachalam to monitor the operations. The bodies were taken to Venkatapuram for post-mortem.

The police sounded an alert in the district following the encounter.

The Prajahita Paayatra led by former Union Minister K. Kamala Kumari and Younis Sultan, former MLA in the Polavaram project-affected villages, was called off.

The police sounded a caution to ruling party leaders and elected representatives against venturing into Maoist strongholds.

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