Rural cops on high alert as Maoists call for bandh today

Visakhapatnam: The bandh called by CPI (Maoists) in five states including AP on Thursday has spread fear among the tribal people of Visakha and East Godavari Agency areas and has forced them to confined themselves to their villages following the Bejjangi encounter in the cut-off area of Malkangiri district in Odisha. In the run up to the bandh, the people have stopped visiting the weekly markets as well.

Meanwhile, suspecting an act of revenge by the naxals, Visakha Rural police have deployed a large number of security forces in the Agency areas and have warned the individuals whose names are in the Maoist hit list to shift to plain areas for safety and inform the police about their whereabouts.

Scores of former naxals, people's representatives and other persons in the hit list have already vacated their villages, sources said, adding that cops have initiated vehicle checks in GK Veedhi, Chintapalli, G Madugula, Koyyuru, Pedabayalu, Munchingput, Hukumpeta and other Maoist-infested mandals.

The sources said choppers have been carrying out aerial survey for the past two days and RTC authorities have suspended Visakhapatnam-Malkangiri, Visakhapatnam-Bhadrachalam, and Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad via Seeleru services as well as night halt buses in the Agency areas. "We have experienced loss of property during several bandhs by naxals. We will resume services to the interior areas on Thursday only after clearance from the cops,' said a senior RTC official on conditions of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the Maoists have put up banners and posters at Darakonda village in GK Veedhi mandal claiming that the security forces had opened fire against them. The posters said the government has been attacking the revolutionaries and agitators in an attempt to excavate bauxite reserves in the forest areas.

"The naxals will strike at any place in the Agency to show their presence following the encounter. We have taken all measures to avoid untoward incidents. If anybody wishes to surrender, we will assure that they are provide with benefits extended by the government," Visakha Rural SP Rahuldev Sharma told TOI.

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