Andhra Maoists boxed into just two divisions after losing ground: DGP

declining from 100 to 48 now, said AP Director General of Police (DGP) K V Rajendranath Reddy.

The Maoist military formations responsible for their guerrilla actions saw a sharp reduction from 2 companies comprising a total of 50 members to a mere platoon with 10 members in the last one year, as per information gathered by the state police’s Special Intelligence Branch.

The DGP said that while there used to be 8 Maoist Area Committees — in Kalimela, Narayanpatna, Nandapur, Coffee Dalam, Galikonda, Pedabayalu, Gumma and Boipariguda — in early 2019, their tally has now dropped to 4 Area Committees — in Galikonda, Pedabayalu-Korukonda, Gumma, and Boipariguda — along the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB).

According to the AP Police officials, only 2 Divisional Committees — Visakha East and Malkangiri-Koraput Border — 4 Area Committees — Galikonda, Pedabayalu, Gumma, and Boipariguda — and 1 military platoon of left extremists are active in the AOB region now. They said Central Committee member Gajarla Ravi alias Uday is the lone highest-ranking Maoist member operating in the AOB’s Special Zonal Committee (SZC).

The DGP said that public perception towards Maoists has been changing and they are fast losing their local support due to their “violent activities, killing of innocent tribals branding them as police informers, and obstruction of road construction and other developmental activities in interior areas”.

The police said left extremists’ bid to convert the AOBSZC’s remote belt into a Guerrilla Base Area has taken a severe hit. In the absence of their cadre’s recruitment in AP, Maoists are trying to ensure an influx of their Chhattisgarh cadre in AOBSZC, but due to the tough terrain and language barriers the latter are finding it difficult to work in AOBSZC and “often running away to Chhattisgarh”, the police said.

As per the AP Police’s report on LWE, most of the Maoist-run “Janatana Sarkar (village-level parallel governments)” have become defunct now due to lack of public support. Because of the newly-laid or improved road connectivity, communication network, and developmental activities in interior areas, local tribals have been able to access various central and state government welfare schemes meant for the LWE-affected areas without any hindrance.

The DGP attributed “severe setbacks” suffered by Maoists over the last one year to factors like police encounters, arrests and surrender of their top cadre, claiming that workshops and programmes held by the police have been successful in weaning away the locals from the Maoist influence. He said the AP government’s “attractive Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy” for left extremists have led to their surrender. According to the AP Home Department, in the last one year 4 “exchanges of fire” between the police personnel and Maoists took place in Visakhapatnam district in which 6 LWE cadre were killed, which included 2 Division Committee members and 2 Area Committee members.

At present, 48 AP native Maoist cadre are working in various states, of whom 18 are based in AOBSZC with the remaining 39 operating in other state committees, according to the police report.

On Friday, the AP Police announced the surrender of the CPI (Maoist) Party’s Pedabayalu-Korukonda Area Committee member Korra Nageswara Rao alias Nagesh and a party member Seendri Jagan alias Ambri alias Subbarao. Nagesh, involved in nearly 150 offences, carried a reward of Rs 4 lakhs.

Seendri Jagan, involved in 39 offences, carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh. Three other Maoist party members and 2 Militia Commanders also surrendered, the police added.

Of the total 22 mandals in Alluri Sitaramaraju district’s two divisions, 11 are LWE-affected, said the police. In the first incident after the new district was created, Maoists shot dead a villager of Vanjangi in Pedabayalu mandal on April 6, branding him a police informer. On April 8, a large number of tribals took out a rally opposing the Maoists.