Hyderabad: The Mulugu police arrested 20 Maoists and seized Insas, SLR and .303 rifles along with two grenades from them.
During vehicle checking near Palem project under Venkatapuram police station limits on Friday, half a dozen Maoists were arrested. While conducting a search operation in Murumuru forest area under Wazedu police station limits on Saturday, seven Maoists were nabbed.
During patrolling near Guttala Gangaram Guttikoya village under Kannaigudem police station limits, seven more Maoists were apprehended. The arrested include a Division Committee Member (DVC), five Area Committee Members (ACM) and 14 Party Members (PM).
Based on the information given by them, the police seized three Insas rifles with six magazines containing 70 live rounds, four SLR rifles with 10 magazines and 88 live rounds, one .303 rifle with 11 live rounds, four 8MM riles, 16 12-bore weapon cartridges and two grenades.
An amount of Rs.58,155, four walkie talkies with antennas, six each radios, pen drives and memory cards, 18 card readers, two kit bags and party literature and other materials were seized, according to police.
Speaking on the occasion, Superintendent of Police Dr. P Shabarish appealed to the UG Maoist leaders and members to take advantage of the surrender policy of Telangana and immediately surrender before the police and join the mainstream to lead a peaceful life with their families.
He urged the public of Mulugu district not to support or assist UG cadres of banned CPI (Maoist) and added that strict legal action would be initiated if anyone found to be supporting or assisting Maoists in the district.
According to police, the Maoists planted Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Karregutta forest, which falls under the jurisdiction of Venkatapuram, Wazeedu, and Peruru police station limits in the district and also under the jurisdiction of Elimidi and Usur police stations of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, in order to prevent security forces and others from entering the area and to establish a Maoist guerrilla base.
The Maoists also issued warnings through a statement on April 8, 2025, cautioning adivasis and others not to enter Karregutta forest area. As Maoists have been continuing their anti-law activities using Karregutta as their base, CRPF central forces and Chhattisgarh police have launched a large-scale search operation in Karregutta.
In view of the ongoing search operations, information was received by Mulugu police that Maoists, who had taken shelter in Karregutta were fleeing from there in small groups to various locations. To prevent the entry of Maoists into Mulugu, the district police strengthened their surveillance system and took necessary steps. Accordingly, the police arrested 20 Maoists.
