Pseudo naxalite beaten to death

By Our Staff Reporter

NIZAMABAD, OCT. 9. Fed up with the excesses being committed by a pseudo naxalite and former member of the People's War Group, the Village Defence Squad of Tarlapadu in Khanapur police station limits of Adilabad district killed him in self-defence late last night after the former fired from a country-made weapon and injured a villager.

The Adilabad Superintendent of police, Mr. Mahesh M. Bhagwat, told The Hindu over telephone from Nirmal on Tuesday night, that the victim Appala Chandraiah (40) of Tarlapad village had been terrorising the local residents for the last few years. Yesterday night, the victim came to Tarlapad along with two others and headed for the residence of Pallerla Ganga Narasaiah, who had recently returned from Gulf.

Chandraiah reportedly whipped out a country-made tapancha and fired at Narasaiah asking him to hand over a colour television and a VCP. Narasaiah sustained injuries and raised an alarm. On hearing the cries, the Village Defence Squad members, who were patrolling the village, rushed to the house. Narasaiah, meanwhile, managed to pick up a knife and stabbed Chandraiah. The other villagers, who rushed to the spot, beat the pseudo naxalite to death.

The victim had worked for Khanapur dalam of the PWG for six months in 1989 but came out after the Alampalli landmine blast in which several police personnel were killed. He shifted to Bhiwandi in Maharashtra but frequently visited Tarlapad and started extorting money in a big way from the villagers. He used to carry a country-made tapancha to threaten the villagers.

He was involved in a number of murder cases in the village. Beginning with the murder of Vemula Rajamallu, the former PWG naxalite, went on to murder the Tarlapad upa sarpanch, Adapa Rajanna and his servant, Dade Ramulu in 1992, accusing them of being responsible for the killing of his father on the charges of practicing sorcery. The bodies bore marks of brutal torture. He then went on to kill one Kallam Gangaram in a landmine blast in 1996 at Khanapur.

Even after this, he did not stop his activity and in 1998, he killed two bootleggers - Bilavath Ramulu and Gangaram. Both of them were axed to death and their bodies were thrown in Sadarmath canal. To settle score with a landlord, Suraveera Reddy of Tarlapad, he blasted his house. The farm hand of the landlord, Muthanna and her daughter, Rajamani, were killed in the blast.

Last month, in Nadimpalli tanda of Patha Yellapur village, Chandraiah raided the house of Chigurala Komaraiah and demanded money from him. Being unable to get money, Chandraiah fired from his tapancha and injured Komaraiah. He was admitted in a hospital in Nizamabad for treatment.

Apart from committing murders in Adilabad district, the victim is understood to have participated in the blasting of the Ahmednagar outpost in Latur district, the SP said. The Nirmal Additional SP, Mr. Palaraju and Khanapur CI, Mr. Surender Reddy, had repeatedly held meetings with the residents of the Tarlapad village following which the Village Defence Squad was formed to guard against the naxals.

The body was shifted to Khanapur hospital for postmortem.

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