Andhra Pradesh arrests 31 suspected Maoists after deadly encounter

Security forces in Andhra Pradesh, including the anti-terrorist unit Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations or Octopus, have arrested 31 suspected Maoists and their sympathisers in Vijayawada, Krishna and NTR districts. The arrests came after the morning encounter of six Maoist terrorists, including top commander Madvi Hidma.

Additional Director General of Police Mahesh Chandra Laddha said that of the 31 persons arrested, nine are former personal security guards of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) General Secretary Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji.

Maoist infiltration from Chhattisgarh

Laddha explained that the rest belonged to various Maoist battalions of South Bastar. Under pressure in Chhattisgarh, they have sneaked into Andhra Pradesh and are in hiding. He said, “We have been receiving inputs for several days and are tracking them. Today, 31 people were arrested from various places. Some of the surviving Maoist leaders and cadres are trying to come back to AP and set up base, but we will not allow it. They are fleeing due to enormous pressure in Chhattisgarh. Our operations against them will continue.”

After the death of General Secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basvaraj in an encounter with security forces this May, the CPI (Maoist) appointed Devuji as the new general secretary.

Arrests, raids

In New Autonagar in Vijayawada, Octopus commandos surrounded a four-storey building where at least 21 Maoist cadres allegedly posing as migrant workers were staying. All of them are from Chhattisgarh, officials said.

An official said that just before the commandos stormed the building, a few Maoists escaped, but most have been taken into custody. Elsewhere, 10 Maoists hiding at houses or properties of sympathisers have been arrested. None of them was carrying weapons.

Officials recovered diaries and notebooks with contact numbers of sympathisers who could provide shelter. A high alert has been sounded in various cities and towns of Andhra Pradesh following intelligence inputs that Maoist cadres may have slipped in the guise of migrant workers and are trying to assimilate with local populations.

The raids were conducted immediately after the encounter in Maredmulli in Alluri Sitarama Raju district ended, in which top Maoist leader and Central Committee member Madvi Hidma and his wife and four others were killed. Sources said that Devuji, a member of the Central Military Commission, does not command much following, unlike influential leaders like Basvaraj and Muppala Laxman Rao alias Ganapathi, and may have urged his cadres to escape the security dragnet while they can. Hailing from Telangana, his following among the Telangana Maoist leadership is also waning as most of the leaders and cadres are surrendering.

Maoism in India, also known as Left Wing Extremism (LWE), is an ongoing internal security challenge with roots in socio-economic inequality and the Naxalbari uprising of 1967. The main outfit, the CPI (Maoist) Party, aims to overthrow the government through armed insurgency and operates in parts of the "Red Corridor", though its influence has been decreasing significantly in recent years. The government is combating this through a multi-pronged approach that includes security operations, development initiatives in affected areas, and focusing on areas with security vacuums.