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An alleged Maoist has been killed in an exchange of fire between special police forces and a group of people from the outlawed CPI Maoist party. The crossfire is said to have taken place in Yellandu town located under the Gundala police station limits in Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district.
The area falls under the Bhadradri-Kothagudem of Telangana state, and the firing incident has taken place amidst speculations of possible surrender by top-most Maoist leaders.
Speaking to TNM, Kothagudem SP Sunil Dutt confirmed the incident. He said that the incident took place following area domination and vehicle check by local and special police who had received intelligence about the movement of the Maoist action team.
The SP said that Gundala Inspector Srinivas was doing a vehicle check around 4.15 am on Thursday. “Vehicle check points were set up as we had information about Maoist movement in the area. At around 4:15 am, when our team spotted two persons travelling on a bike, they were asked to stop. When they proceeded without stopping, the team tried to chase them. The duo opened fire at the police team and they returned fire. In the exchange of fire, one of them was gunned down,” he told TNM.
According to police officials, the man who was gunned down is aged around 25 years old and his details and cadre is yet to be identified. Police officials say that based on the information received they believe he is a Maoist. The other person fled from the scene and the police teams are trying to trace him.
The officials have been on high alert for the last couple of days following credible information about likely movement of maoists. According to the police officials no casualties were reported from the police side in the exchange of fire that took place. The incident also highlights the existence of armed Maoists in the state of Telangana. The state Director General of Police (DGP) visited KB Asifabad and other interior parts and carried out an aerial inspection along with senior officials.
For around two months now, the state police’s Greyhounds, an anti-insurgency unit, have been combing Telangana’s dense forests in districts such as Bhadradri-Kothagudem, JS Bhupalapally, Mulugu and Adilabad, Komaram Bheem-Asifabad and Mancherial districts.
The latest exchange of fire is the second incident in the district. Earlier in July, another such incident had taken place at Mallepallytogu in Kothagudem. And yet another incident reportedly took place in Tukkuguda of Tiryani forests in KB Asifabad district.