Naxalite leader who held talks with YSR govt shot

Ten months ago, CPI-ML (Jana Shakti) central committee member Riaz Khan alias Venkateswarlu stayed as a ‘state guest’ in Hyderabad...

Ten months ago, CPI-ML (Jana Shakti) central committee member Riaz Khan alias Venkateswarlu stayed as a ‘state guest’ in Hyderabad for four days and participated in peace talks with the Andhra Pradesh government. The 34-year-old Naxalite leader was shot dead in an ‘encounter’ in Karimnagar district today.

Riaz, an engineering graduate and the second-in-command in the organisation led by secretary Amar, was among the four Naxalites killed in an alleged encounter which also blew up the possibility of another round of peace talks. Last night, the Jana Shakti had issued a press release alleging that four of its leaders had been arrested by the police and that it apprehended threat to their lives.

Civil rights groups alleged that it was a “cold-blooded killing”. They said the four were picked up in Hyderabad, taken to the forests and ‘‘bumped off.’’

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Besides CPI(Maoist), the leading Naxal organisation, CPI-ML (Jana Shakti) was the other extremist group that was invited for talks by the government. The discussions ended after one round.

This morning, the police announced that the four were killed in an early morning encounter between Badankal and Cheekod villages. The other three killed were Karimnagar district committee secretary Vijay alias Srisailam and Riaz’s gunmen, Suresh and Ashok.

Speaking to reporters, District Superintendent of Police D S Chouhan said that on a tip-off that the Jana Shakti leaders were training its cadre in a mango orchard, a special police party went to the area around 1.30 am and surrounded the hideout. The Naxalites opened fire and police retaliated, he said.

Jana Shakti leaders were training their cadre in a orchard when a police party raided the hideout. The Naxals opened fire and the police retaliated.
— DS Chouhan DSP

Riaz was born in a poor fishermen’s family in Nellore’s coastal Kavali. He graduated in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Vakadu College of Engineering in 1995 and entered the movement through its students wing Progressive Democratic Students Union.

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Till his death, he was in charge of Nallamala Special Regional Committee and was also responsible for the creation of Jana Shakti platoons in Rayalaseema region.

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