Telangana: Six Maoists gunned down in first major encounter since 2018

Six members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) were killed in an encounter with security forces in Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district bordering Chhattisgarh on Thursday, the police said.

The exchange of fire took place in the Neeladrigutta forest area in Karakagudem block early in the morning. Two Greyhounds policemen, an elite anti-Maoist squad, were injured in the gunbattle.

Bhadradri Kothagudem superintendent of police B Rohit Raju told reporters that the gunfight broke out around the Neelandrigutta hillock, near Raghunadhapalem village bordering Mulugu district, when a team of Greyhounds police personnel was conducting a combing operation in the forest area.

“Six Maoists were killed, and two security personnel were injured in the exchange of fire,” Raju said, adding that a huge cache of arms and ammunition were seized from the site of the encounter.

The identity of the deceased Maoists was being ascertained, he said, and the bodies have been shifted to Kothagudem government hospital for post-mortem.

However, another police official, who did not disclose his identity, said the slain Maoists included Palvancha-Manuguru-Karakagudem divisional committee member and commander of the squad ‘Lachanna’, while others were believed to be Tulasi, Sukhram, Ramu, Durgesh and Kosi.

A native of Rayapadu in Chhattisgarh, ‘Lachanna’ was one of the most wanted CPI (Maoist) leaders, carrying a reward of ₹10 lakh on his head. There were 50 cases against ‘Lachanna’ at different police stations.

This incident follows a major encounter on Tuesday in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh where nine Maoists were gunned down by security forces. Among those killed was top Maoist leader Macherla Esobu, also known by the several aliases including Jagan, Dada Randev, and Randhir.

Esobu, a native of Tekulagudem in Kazipet mandal of Hanamkonda district of Telangana, was a prominent Left-wing extremist figure and had a bounty of ₹25 lakh on his head.

This was the first major encounter in Telangana since 2018; 10 Maoists were killed in an encounter in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district in March 2018.

Barring these, there has been virtually no major activity by Maoists in Telangana, except occasional incidents of violence in the border areas of Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu and Jayashankar Bhupalpally districts bordering Chhattisgarh.

”In the wake of intensifying operations by security forces, by the name of ‘Operation Kagar’ in the forests of Chhattisgarh, some Maoist dalams (groups) are trying to enter into the border areas in search of a safe zone. Hence, a group of Chhattisgarh-based armed Maoist rebels might have crossed over the forest border into Telangana, which led to Thursday’s encounter,” the second police official quoted above said.