Andhra Pradesh   

Four naxalites killed in encounter in A.P.

Staff Reporter

Sequel to seizing of two launches from Nagarjunakonda

VIJAYAPURI SOUTH (GUNTUR DT.): On a day of fast-paced developments, five Maoists hijacked two motorised launches along with nine crew members from Nagarjunakonda, but four of them were killed in an encounter at Maddimadugu in Mahabubnagar district on Sunday.

Naxalites took over the launches at 11.30 a.m., took them up to Kallakunta in Veldurthi mandal of Guntur district, blasted them there after releasing all crew members at 4.30 p.m. The Nalgonda police who were hot on the trail the launches, killed the four Maoists, including a woman cadre, while the naxalites were crossing the river in a `putti,' in Mahabubnagar district.

The naxalites hijacked the launches from the Nagarjunasagar reservoir in protest against the recent encounters. All 234 tourists on board, who had gone to the island museum, were brought back in alternative launches.

The naxalites, all of the armed, reached Nagarjunkonda in `puttis' from Anupu, an Archeological Survey of India-preserved Buddhist site, 5 km upstream the dam in Guntur district, and prevented the tourists from boarding the Shanti Siri and M.L. Krishna launches.

The naxalites told the first batch of tourists that had gone to Nagarjunkonda at 9 a.m. that they would take away the Tourism Department launches and destroy them, but would not harm the crew. The Maoists then tied hands of five crew members and then asked the drivers of the two launches to keep going.

An employee of Natco Pharmaceuticals residing in Pylon Colony at Nagarjunasagar passed on the information to one of his colleagues and in turn their office informed the launch station here about the hijack at about noon. Some passengers also informed the Hill Colony police station. The passengers were brought back in two launches, each escorted by 15 plainclothes policemen. The police did this to avoid retaliation from naxalites.

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