In Telangana’s Mulugu district, security forces encountered a group of seven Maoists early Sunday morning. This clash came just a week after two tribal men were killed by suspected Maoists for allegedly being informers for the police.
The special anti-Maoist unit, called the Greyhounds, spotted the Maoists in the Chalpaka forest around 5:30 AM and ordered them to surrender. However, instead of giving up, the Maoists shot back. In the end, seven of them were killed, including a notable figure named Bhadru, also known as Papanna. He was the commander of the CPI (Maoist) in the Yellandu-Narsampet area and was part of the Telangana State Committee.
The other six killed were identified as Egolapu Mallaiah (43 years old), Mussaki Deval (22), Mussaki Jamuna (23), Jai Singh (25), Kishore (22), and Kamesh (23). Police said Bhadru led this group. Security forces recovered weapons from the scene, including AK-47 and G3 rifles, which they confiscated.
This incident marks the first major confrontation with Maoists in the area in several years. There has been concern about the Maoists trying to regain influence in Mulugu. Just a week earlier, on November 21, two tribal men named Uika Ramesh and Uika Arjun were killed for supposedly spying for the police. Ramesh was the secretary for the local Gram Panchayat. A note found with their bodies claimed they were providing information to the authorities. It is still unclear if the seven Maoists who were killed were involved in those murders.
Leave a Reply