HYDERABAD, JULY 4: With the near-failure of the government scheme to rehabilitate surrendered Naxalites, the extremists, especially those in the PWG-dominated north Telangana, are now having a tough time grappling with the uncertainties of their ``promised normal life''.For them, it is a case of being caught between the devil and the deep sea. While police officers try to gather as much information as possible from them, former colleagues are ever on the prowl, warning them of dire consequences if they cooperate with law-enforcing agencies.As T Ramulu of Warangal district a surrendered Naxalite puts it, ``If I defy the Naxal diktat, they will kill me branding me a police informer. And if I disobey the police, I may be shot dead in another one of those encounters.''Ramulu, in fact, was ``questioned'' by the police several times after his surrender. And all this while, Naxalites were putting pressure on him to reject the reward announced by the government. ``The police summoned me a few times forvarious reasons. My regular appearance at the police station attracted a warning from the PWG,'' he says.Several Naxalites, unable to stand the harassment by both the police and the Naxalites, have been returning to the PWG-fold. A case in point is Warangal district committee secretary P Sudarshan Reddy, who surrendered a decade ago and went on to become the mandal-level leader of the Telugu Desam Party. But later, he went back to the PWG and is now holding an important position in the organisation.The same was the case with Bommakanti Sadanandam of Sudampalli, a surrendered PWG Naxalite who was rehabilitated by the government. But he joined the CPI-ML (Janasakti group) and was killed in an encounter just two days ago. The same was the case with K Venkat Reddy, now a ``general mazdoor'' in the Singareni Collieries, who surrendered in 1987 after 12 years of underground life. But the police started chasing him after a senior PWG Naxalite died in an encounter, which occurred at his sister's house inWarangal. ``I fled to Chennai and returned a year later after things settled down,'' he says.The worst case is, of course, of surrendered couple Hussain Bee and Edanna. After their surrender in 1996 in the presence of the chief minister, they were persistently hounded by the police. Hussain Bee was raped by APSP constables and an abortive bid was made on her life in the state capital. Early last month, Edanna was kidnapped from a city hotel and his headless body found a day later.Hussain Bee alleges that the Mahboobnagar police were behind her husband's murder. However, a senior police official engaged in anti-Naxalite operations maintained that the surrendered couple had ``definite links'' with the PWG.Whatever the case, it is clear that the Naxalites have an equal role in making the life of the surrendered extremists miserable. The PWG has been consistently eliminating them at the faintest suspicion that they have turned into police informers. One such victim was A Sadanandam of Kothaguda villagein Warangal district. He incurred the PWG group's wrath after he helped the police unearth a weapon's dump of the organisation. The PWG beheaded him, severed his limbs, packed his corpse in a gunny bag and had it sent it to a police station.In yet another incident, P Ailamallu and A Ramesh, both surrendered Radical Youth League (RYL) activists, were beaten to death by the Parkal squad of the PWG in Warangal district three months ago. There have also been several instances of Naxalites setting ablaze vehicles purchased by the surrendered extremists under the government's rehabilitation scheme. Alleges a senior police official of Warangal district, ``The PWG Naxalites are beating up those who surrender, asking them to deposit the rehabilitation amount in gram panchayats and provide food and shelter.''Again, it is not as if every surrendered extremist reveals a volley of information. According to Warangal superintendent of police R P Thakur, a majority of the extremists do not give any information. ``Andeven if some of them do provide an insight into the activities, it would not be of much use as the party generally takes all precautions whenever a senior functionary surrenders,'' he says.Naxal bill deferred The state Cabinet on Friday deferred taking a decision on the proposed legislation to control Naxalite activities, with a view to introducing some more changes in the draft document.The Cabinet yesterday initiated discussion on the statute bill titled ``AP Banned Organisation Activities (Prevention and Restriction) Bill 1998'' but postponed its decision. However, according to sources, an audio-visual presentation was made on the violence perpetrated by the Naxalites. The Cabinet, after discussing the matter, felt that some changes should made in the draft bill.Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked the officials, including director General of Police H J Dora, to effect necessary changes in the draft so that there would not beany criticism from the public.The changes suggested include removing media (print and electronic) from the purview of the bill and extension of the bill to the entire state and not some notified areas as per the original draft.
