Police personnel with arrested Maoists in Vijayawada.
Credit: PTI Photo
Hyderabad: In yet another encounter in dense forest area of Andhra Pradesh, seven Maoists were killed on Wednesday (November 19) morning.
Alluri Seetharamaraju district SP Amit Bardar said that the identity of one of the deceased has been established that of Metturu Jogarao, alias Tech Shankar and identity of other Maoists is being verified.
They were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in the GM Valasa area of Alluri Seetharama Raju district on Wednesday morning. Security forces had been combing the forest belt following specific intelligence on the movement of armed cadres in the region and six Maoists were killed on Tuesday.
Tech Shankar, long associated with the Andhra–Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee, was known within the organisation for his skills in assembling improvised explosive devices. Police officials said he was involved in developing several of the mines deployed by the Maoists over the years.
Also in one of the most comprehensive and intelligence-driven anti-Maoist crackdowns in recent years, the Andhra Pradesh Police have arrested 50 CPI Maoist operatives across Krishna, Eluru, NTR Vijayawada, Kakinada and Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema districts on Tuesday and Wednesday, delivering a major blow to the organisation’s South Bastar and Dandakaranya networks.
The detained individuals include senior Maoist leaders, logistics experts, communication operatives and armed platoon members, party members , many of whom were closely associated with Madvi Hidma, the central committee member of CPI Maoist Party.
This intelligence-led, multi-agency operation—described by officials as “pin point, silent and coordinated” was executed through a joint effort of the State Intelligence Department, the Commissioner of Police, Vijayawada, and the District SPs of Krishna, Eluru, Kakinada and Konaseema.
This multi-district operation followed the major Exchange of Fire that took place in Maredumilli area of rampachodavaram Sub-Division of Andhra Pradesh where six maoist cadre were downed during the Exchange of Fire on Tuesday.
Among the six were Madvi Hidma , the Central committee member and a most wanted maoist and his wife Raje along with four others. Police sources indicated that many of the arrested cadres had fled from Chhattisgarh’s Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur and West Bastar districts following sustained security pressure and the elimination of Hidma. After crossing into Andhra Pradesh, they sought temporary shelter in urban areas to regroup, rebuild their command structures and devise their next operational strategies and mainly prove their existence by conducting offences in state of Andhra pradesh. The operation resulted in the arrest of three senior Special Zonal Committee Members (SZCM).
“Their presence inside AP indicates a deliberate attempt by the Maoist leadership to reconstitute command structures after sustained pressure and major leadership losses in Chhattisgarh. The capture of all three SZCM operatives in one coordinated operation marks a rare and decisive collapse of the top command layer of the CPI (Maoist) in the Dandakaranya region. The operation also resulted in the apprehension of a high-value cluster of Divisional Committee Members (DVCMs)—the most crucial operational tier in the CPI (Maoist) hierarchy responsible for directing armed actions, recruitment, logistics, supply chains, IED deployment and cross-border cadre movement,” said Andhra Pradesh intelligence chief, Mahesh Kumar Ladda.
He added that the operation was executed with such precision that a 100% Strike Rate with zero was achieved. “Not a single cadre escaped. Not a single civilian was harmed. Not a single police officer was injured. Urban-area detentions were carried out with near-silent precision, ensuring public life remained undisturbed. Even a minor miss would have alerted cadres—but every movement was synchronized perfectly. The operation marks an important evolution in AP’s counter-Maoist approach and shows the efficiency driven by a one-force approach,” Ladda added.