The Hindu : Strategy to combat naxals in Nallamala range on anvil

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 23, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Strategy to combat naxals in Nallamala range on anvil

By A. Saye Sekhar

GUNTUR FEB. 22. The police are working out a strategy to combat the naxalites of the People's War (PW) in the core area covered under the Nallamala forest range and the fringes of the Krishna in Mahabubnagar, Kurnool, Guntur, Nalgonda and Prakasam districts.

It is understood that an important meeting of senior police officers, including Inspectors-General (IGs) of Police of Greyhounds, Andhra Pradesh Special Police Battalions and Guntur Range, Anurag Sharma, J.V.Ramudu and P. Chandrasekhara Reddy respectively, the Deputy Inspectors-General of Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), CID and Hyderabad Range, D.G.Sawang, Koteswara Rao and C.R.Naidu respectively, and the Superintendents of Police of Guntur, Kurnool, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts, Ravishankar Ayyanar, N.Sanjay, V.C.Sajjanar and Rajiv Kumar Meena respectively and the Additional Superintendent of Police Prakasam district, M. Chandrasekhara Reddy, took place at Nagarjunasagar on Friday. The ASPs who are working as officers-on-special duty also took part in the day-long brainstorming session.

The meeting reportedly reviewed the activities of the PW and the strategies being implemented by the Police Department in the five districts.

The PW dalams and local guerilla squads in the five districts are finding it very convenient to flee into the neighbouring districts by crossing the borders either in the cover of forest or by crossing the river Krishna after completing an operation. The river between the borders of Mahabubnagar-Guntur, Mahbunagar-Kurnool, Guntur-Nalgonda and Guntur-Krishna is posing a major problem for the special police parties engaged in anti-naxalite operations.

The senior officers reportedly felt that the police of the five districts should work in close coordination with one another to deal with the burgeoning problem. It is learnt that the special parties, operating in border districts, should share information about their own movements, names and nicknames of the rank and file of the PW and militants and their activities and any offence committed by the PW in any district so they could lay a dragnet to catch the naxalites.

The top police officials also reportedly felt that the special party policemen and the forces deployed by APSP and CRPF, operating in every district, should be subjected to familiarisation of the terrain and possible hide-outs in the remaining four districts. This would enable them to launch combing and cordon-and-search operations in a meticulous manner.

The police are believed to have been planning to have a judicious mix of the special parties drawn from all the five districts to conduct anti-naxal operations through area domination in these districts. The teams would keep on changing.

In the PW's Mahabubnagar district unit, the Upper Plateau dalam would move into Kurnool district, while the Mannanur LGS and Amrabad LGS would ferry its way into Veldurthy area of Guntur district. At times, it might even drift towards Yerragondapalem. The Tiger Project dalam of Kurnool district would flee into Prakasam district after completing an operation. In fact, the PW has a Nallamala Forest Division under the command of which the Tiger Project dalam, the Nallamala dalam (of Prakasam district), the Mannanur LGS, the Bollapalli LGS (Guntur district) and the Veldurthy LGS (Guntur district) were operating. The Bollapalli LGS would move into Nallamala forest in Prakasam district or even Mahbubnagar through Alatampenta area.

The Veldurthy LGS would run into Yerragondapalem area or cross the river to reach Mahbubnagar. The South Krishna Patti Area committee, under which the Bellamkonda LGS, the Dachepalli LGS and Central Palnadu LGS are working in Guntur district, would easily cross the river to reach Nalgonda district or at times Krishna district via Vedadri which is diagonally opposite Maadipadu village in Guntur district. In fact, it is easy for them to go to Nalgonda district as Guntur and Nalgonda district were closely connected by roads. The North Krishna Patti Area Committee which operate in Nalgonda would tend to move either into Guntur by crossing the river or reach Krishna district.

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