Three Maoists, including a top Communist Party of India (Maoist) central committee member, were killed in an encounter with the security forces in forests of Maredumilli in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju district in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.
Along with central committee member Gajarla Ravi alias Uday, another top Maoist leader Raavi Venkata Chaitanya alias Aruna and another unidentified Maoist leader were also killed in the encounter. Aruna was the wife of another central committee member Pratapreddy Ramachandra Reddy alias Chalapati, who was killed in the encounter with the security forces at Gariaband in Chhattisgarh bordering Odisha.
While Ravi is also the secretary of the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee, Aruna is a member of the committee.
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Both Maoist leaders were heading the Maoist operations in Andhra-Odisha borders and were on the most wanted list of National Investigation Agency (NIA). Ravi carried a reward of ₹20 lakh on his head.
According to a senior police official of the Andhra police, the encounter took place at Kondamodalu village of Devipatnam forest area under Maredumilli police limits.
“Based on intelligence received by police on Tuesday evening about Maoist presence in the area, security forces launched an operation. The operation, carried out by the elite Greyhounds unit, led to a fierce exchange of fire with Maoists, resulting in heavy losses for the Maoists,” the official said, adding that the police had seized three AK-47 rifles and other weapons from the encounter spot.
Several other Maoist leaders are believed to have fled the scene after the gunfight. With intelligence reports suggesting presence of more Maoists in the area, combing operations by the Greyhounds are ongoing in the Maredumilli forests.
Gajarla Ravi, alias Uday and Ganesh, who hails from Velishala village of Chityala block in the erstwhile combined Warangal district, joined the Maoist movement in 1992 at the age of 23.
Over the years, he rose through the ranks and became a member of the central committee. In 2004, he participated in peace talks with the government as a representative of the then People’s War Group.
The NIA had noted Ravi’s strong hold over this densely forested region.
Police records indicate that Ravi had led several operations against the security forces, including the killing of four BSF jawans in Odisha’s Malkangiri district in 2012 and was also involved in the Balimela reservoir attack that killed 38 Greyhounds.