Seven Maoists were killed in a fresh exchange of fire with security forces on Wednesday in the dense forest area of Maredumilli in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district, a day after top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma and five others were eliminated in a nearby operation.
Addressing a press conference in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Mahesh Chandra Laddha described the Wednesday encounter as a direct continuation of the major anti-Maoist operation launched on Tuesday.
“Seven Maoists have died until now, according to information received from the field,” Laddha said, adding that three of the deceased were women Maoists. The process of formally identifying the bodies is still underway. However, one of the slain Maoists has already been identified as Meturi Jokha Rao alias ‘Tech’ Shankar, a native of Srikakulam district.
According to preliminary intelligence inputs, Shankar was functioning as an Area Committee Member (ACM) of the Andhra–Odisha Border (AOB) region and was a specialist in technical operations, arms manufacturing, and communication systems for the outlawed outfit.
Laddha stated that Wednesday’s action was the result of a series of follow-up operations based on specific intelligence collected immediately after Tuesday’s encounter, in which Madvi Hidma and five other Maoists were gunned down.
In a significant development, the ADG revealed that 50 Maoists have been arrested across NTR, Krishna, Kakinada, Konaseema, and Eluru districts in recent days, describing it as the largest number of Maoist arrests in a single phase in Andhra Pradesh’s history.
Security forces also recovered a substantial cache of arms and explosives from the encounter site, including 45 weapons, 272 rounds of ammunition, two magazines, 750 grams of wire, and other incriminating materials.
The senior officer further disclosed that police and Greyhound commandos had been closely monitoring Maoist movement from neighbouring Chhattisgarh into Andhra Pradesh and launched the latest phase of the operation after gathering precise information about their activities and hideouts in the Maredumilli forest region.
Further details from the Maredumilli operation are awaited.
Also Read: Top Naxal commander Madvi Hidma killed in Andhra encounter
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