Naxalites raid police station

By Our Staff Reporter

KURNOOL, MAY 7. PWG extremists, numbering 15 to 20, raided the Pagidyala police station, 43 km from here, in the wee hours of Monday and destroyed records and furniture. The extremists did not either harm the three policemen on duty or damage the station building.

According to reports, the extremists suddenly descended on the place at 12.45 a.m. and advanced towards the police station by firing in the air. They overpowered the constable on sentry duty, Mr. Ravi Kumar, another constable, Mr. Y. Maddiah, and the Assistant Sub-inspector, Mr. Ali Hussain, and asked for weapons. On hearing from the policemen that no weapons were stocked in the station, the extremists tied the policemen to a tree and searched the station. The olive green clad extremists collected records, kit boxes of the constables and furniture in the main hall and set them on fire after sprinkling petrol. The extremists were said to have thrown into the fire a photograph of a slain police officer and later set fire to the motorbike (ADQ 4528) of the sub- inspector, Mr. Ameer Basha, who was not in the town.

They raised slogans in support of the People's Guerrilla Army (PGA), the newly formed outfit of the PWG, and against the Government. Before leaving the place, they damaged the electric meter and telephone and took away the VHF wireless communication set along with the charger.

After the extremists' exit, the police extinguished the fire and salvaged some of the records. The police said the extremist team, including three women, possessed SLRs, DBBL and .303 guns. Five spent cartridges of .303 gun and two cartridges of DBBL were recovered from the premises.

The extremists could not secure any weapons as they were withdrawn a few months ago from the extremist-prone police stations. The policemen and some of the villagers had gathered at the police station to attend a party in honour of some policemen who were transferred. The raid was barely an hour after the party.

The Additional SP, Mr. J. Prabhakar Rao, the Deputy SP, Mr. Hanumantha Rao, and other officers rushed to the spot and reviewed the situation.

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Section  : Southern States
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