The Hindu : Naxals gun down former dalam commander

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 01, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Naxals gun down former dalam commander

By Our Correspondent

VIZIANAGARAM APRIL 30. Suspected naxalites of the People's War Group (PWG) shot dead a surrendered naxalite on State Highway 43 at Chelluru village, 12 km from here, this morning.

According to the Superintendent of Police, Soumya Mishra, the former Korukonda Dalam Commander of the PWG, Lotha Thamma Rao (60) was on his way to Chintalavalasa on a bicycle around 7.30 a.m. While Thamma Rao was talking to a cycle mechanic, Kuppili Murali near a colony inhabited by retired AP Special Police Constables, two suspected naxalites, who lay in wait nearby shot at Thamma Rao with a 9 mm pistol from a close range. The bullet hit him on the back. Thamma Rao collapsed after running a few feet towards the house of the village administrative officer. The cycle mechanic ran into the agricultural fields. The naxalites fired three more rounds on the forehead, ribs and in stomach resulting in his instant death. Later, the naxalites boarded a white Ambassador car bound towards Vizianagaram and fled. On receiving information at 7.50 a.m., the police rushed to the spot and recovered four empty cartridges and sent the body for post-mortem examination to the district headquarters hospital.

Thamma Rao had been on the hit list of naxals since he surrendered with his AK 47 before the former Superintendent of Police and now DIG (Visakha Range), S. Prabhakara Reddy, in December 1991.

The Government provided him a house and agricultural land as part of its rehabilitation programme at Sunkarapeta near Chellur and posted two armed constables as his security guards. The bodyguards were not by his side at the time of the incident.

Condemning the incident at a press conference in the evening, Dr. Mishra said that the two bodyguards -- Ch. Kumar Ratnam and M. Ram Babu -- had been suspended for dereliction of duty. She said the cowardly act of killing an old man and creating panic among people showed that the naxals were not serious about talks with the Government. She said that there was no difference between mafia gangs and naxalites as both did not have ideology.

The police sealed all the exit points to the neighbouring Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts and launched a search for the Ambassador car in which the assailants fled. Incidentally, the 5th battalion of the AP Special Police is located one km away from the crime scene.

11 members of PWG arrested

Police arrested 11 village committee members of the PWG in the early hours of Tuesday.

Dr. Mishra said a special party led by Sub-Inspectors of Elvinpeta and Kurupam while combing the Puttajammu, Kukkidi, Dummangi, Kosingabadra forest areas, chanced upon the committee members.

Police chased them arrested all of them at Kosingabadra forest. The arrested were produced at the press meet.

They were: Biddika Sudarasana Rao, Kadraka Rama Rao, Mandangi Srinu, Killaka Venkata Rao, Biddika Mahesh, Kulaka Siva Rao, Nimmaka Srinivasa Rao, Kolaka Jagga Rao, Neechuka Sarveswara Rao, Kondagorri Musuru and Toyaka Krishna Rao.

On interrogation, they confessed that they had been returning to their villages after attending a meeting organised by the PWG Kondabaridi area committee at Kosingibadra. They were in possession of revolutionary material and banners of the PWG.

Neechaka Sarveswara Rao of Kukkidi said that he was one among the Dalam members, Srikanth, Swarnakka, and Sujata involved in the murder of Arika Mohana Rao of Gunada village. All 11 members had also gone for training organised by the PWG at Sikabadi in Orissa from December 15-30. Toyaka Krishna Rao said that he had participated in the MRO Office blast at GL Puram along with Srikanth, Mahendra, Bhupathi and Krishna.

Meanwhile, another combing party led by CI of Elvinpeta unearthed three landmines laid beneath a kacha road between Valasaballeru and Chaparaiguda last night. The landmines were placed in three tiffin boxes. Police blasted one of the landmines at the site itself as they could not defuse it.

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Naxals gun down former dalam commander