The Andhra police delivered yet another blow to the Maoists on Wednesday, arresting central committee member Raji Reddy, a contemporary of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, in Kerala.
Veteran Maoist leader Raji Reddy arrested in Kerala
HYDERABAD: The Andhra police delivered yet another blow to the Maoists on Wednesday, arresting central committee member Raji Reddy, a contemporary of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, in Kerala.
The 55-year-old class X dropout associated with the movement since 1974 and nicknamed “toofan” for his escapades while leading the dreaded Singareni Karmika Sangham dalam was picked up from his hideout near Ernakulam. His wife Nirmalakka, also a well-known Maoist leader, was killed in an encounter in Bastar district in Chhattisgarh in 1998.
This is a second major blow to the movement in the state after police picked up Sagar alias Panduranga Reddy, another central committee member and Nallamalla commander, about a fortnight ago in Chennai with wife Madhavi and an armed escort.
Reddy was produced in a divisional court at Markapuram in Prakasam district.
Popular Maoist poet Varavara Rao and balladeer Gaddar and civil liberties activist and Raji Reddy’s brother Bhim called on home minister K Jana Reddy to urge him to ensure the safety of the Maoist leader.
Raji Reddy had a Rs15 lakh reward on his head, while Sagar, who faces 21 cases, had a tag of Rs12 lakh.
The arrest of the two top guns follows the recent arrest of a TV channel reporter Srisailam Yadav, who is in judicial custody.
The spate of arrests and surrenders has hit the Maoist movement in Andhra Pradesh (AP). Eighty-two Maoists were killed in 2007 as against 133 in 2006 and 161 in 2005. Police say they have gained an upper hand over the Maoists.
“We have broken their hegemony in the Nallamala forest from where they kept supporting the Maoist activity in Chhattisgarh,” says DGP SSP Yadav.
Over the last month the AP police with help from their Orissa and Chhattisgarh counterparts have launched a massive operation in the Andhra–Orissa border area to break Maoist control. The intense combing operation led to the surrender of Chandrasekhar of AOB command area and Tappetla Devender of the Dandakarnya special zone committee.
According to police, while 1,075 Maoists were arrested in 2007, 763 were taken into custody in 2006.
Rajamma and Bhim, mother and brother of Raji Reddy, have filed a habeas corpus petition in the AP high court seeking his production before it.
“We want to ensure that Raji Reddy is not bumped off like Chandramouli and Rajamouli, who were brought from Bangalore and killed in the forests of the state,” said APCLC leader Raghunath.
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