Even as Andhra Pradesh has been grappling with terror attacks, the Maoists who have been lying low for several months now, struck in the state by killing three men and 10 others, in an attack targeted at a former chief minister and his wife. 

A landmine was set off in the early hours of Friday in the coastal Nellore district as the convoy of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Janardhan Reddy and MP and his wife,  Women and Child Welfare Minister N Rajyalakshmi, was passing over a culvert near Chitvedu village.

The couple escaped the blast, as their car missed the culvert.

Police believe the landmine blast bears the signature of Maoists.

They stated that the explosion was set off with a remote device.  The landmine was planted in a pipleline underneath a culvert which was newly constructed.

Mr Reddy and the minister set off in a convoy of 15 vehicles in the early hours for Tirupati to attend a convocation of the Sri Venkateswara University, where he  was to be conferred an honorary doctorate.
His vehicle which was third in the convoy crossed the culvert when the blast was triggered.

The fifth car in which some Youth Congress workers were travelling bore the impact of the blast. Two men and the car driver were literally blown apart, while the car was cut into two. Ten others were injured in the blast. The rubble was strewn over a wide area. The explosion caused some damage to the bullet-proof car in which the VIPs were travelling. 

The 72 year old MP lost consciousness from the impact of the blast.

Journey cancelled
The shaken couple was  advised to cancel the journey as the police feared there may be more landmines on the road to Tirupati. They have returned to Hyderabad. NJR, as Reddy is popularly known as, is believed to have been the target, since he has been on the Maoist hitlist for long and had the highest level of Z category security.
 He was the CM when the  People's War Group was banned for the first time in May 1992. An attempt had been made on his life by the Maoists in Guntur district in 2003. 
 
Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was touring in his native district of Cuddapah, spoke to the couple over phone and rushed to the state capital to review the law and order situation in the wake of the attack.
A red alert has been sounded and combing operations intensified in Nellore district to nab the culprits.
The Maoist attack caught the police unawares as Nellore district has no Maoist presence. This is the second major strike by extremists in the state in the last two years.