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The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
A.P. Police agree to handover mortal remains of three top Maoists gunned down in exchange of fire to their family members
The mortal remains of the three Maoists, who were gunned down in an exchange of fire in Maredumilli forest, would be handed over to their respective families to conduct last rites in a respectful manner, Rampachodavaram Deputy Superintendent of Police G. Sai Prasanth said. On June 18, three Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire and they were identified as Central Committee member of the banned CPI (Maoist) and secretary Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) Gajarla Ravi alias Uday and Raavi Venkat Chaitanya alias Aruna of Pendurthi in Visakhapatnam district, South Zonal Committee member and party member Anju of Konta block in Chhattisgarh, confirmed the DSP. The exchange of fire took place along the Pamuleru stream near Akooru village in Maredumilli forest cover in Alluri Sitharama Raju district. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sai Prasanth said: 'We have shown the mortal remains of the three Maoists to their family members at the Rampachodavaram Area Hospital. The mortal remains of all the three Maoists will be handed over to their families in a very respectable manner. If need be, we will also provide logistic support for the transportation of the mortal remains.' The inquest on the dead bodies of the Maoists has been completed for the post-mortem. The dead bodies are likely to be handed over to the family members by Thursday evening.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Maoist legacy of Gajarla family ends with Ravi: Top Maoist's four-decade journey ends in Andhra encounter; wife, brothers, cousins — all part of movement, most killed or surrendered
HYDERABAD: CPI (Maoist) central committee member Gajarla Ravi, who was killed in an encounter in the forest areas of Alluri Sitarama Raju district in Andhra Pradesh, joined the movement at a young age and gradually rose through the ranks. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A senior intelligence official told TOI, "He was just seven when he started running errands for the Naxals and putting up posters for them." There was a brief period in his youth when his brother Saraiah tried weaning Ravi away from the Maoists and made him join an ITI at Peddapalli. But Ravi eventually joined the Chityala area Revolutionary Youth League in 1989-90. By 1990, he was in the Eturunagaram dalam, working alongside his cousin brothers Gajarla Ramesh alias Gajarla Naveen, who later died in an encounter in 2020. Ironically, Saraiah too joined the Maoist movement later. In 2002 Ravi, who was a district committee secretary of the Karimnagar east division, was demoted to district committee member after he was held responsible for the infamous Chintagudem bus blast in Warangal in which 20 civilians were killed and 16 others were injured. However, he was soon promoted again. By 2004, he had become a state committee member and later took charge of the Khammam-Karimnagar-Warangal region under the North Special Zonal Committee. In 2009, he was shifted to the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC), becoming one of its top leaders. Trail of losses Ravi's wife, Nidigonda Prameela alias Meena, was also a member of the Maoist ranks. She served as the divisional committee secretary of AOBSZC and died in an encounter in Andrapalli on Oct 12, 2018. Saraiah too was a central committee member and part of the central military commission. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He was killed in April 2008 in an encounter in Kanthanapally forest in Warangal along with his wife Padma alias Radha. He had 70 criminal cases against him and was linked to the Manala killings, in which eight tribals were executed on charges of being police informers. Another brother, Gajarla Ashok alias Aithu, was a district committee secretary of south Bastar. He surrendered in 2015 due to ill health. He now works as a reporter with a local newspaper. His wife, Shanigarapu Uma alias Anitha, formerly part of a Maoist medical team, now works as a staff nurse in a private hospital in Hanamkonda. The eldest brother, Gajarla Rajaiah alias Posaiah, did not survive the prolonged underground life and died due to ill health. The only brother to have led a non-Maoist life is Gajarla Sammaiah, a retired coal filler in Mancherial. A brother-in-law, Ramesh alias Naveen, also a Maoist, was killed in an encounter on July 26, 2020. He was part of the Annasagar dalam.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Fresh blow to Naxals: Security forces gun down three top Maoist leaders in Andhra Pradesh
VISAKHAPATNAM: CPI (Maoists) in the Andhra-Odisha border (AOB) area suffered a severe jolt on Wednesday as three of its top leaders were killed in an encounter in the forest area of Alluri Sitarama Raju district in AP. Police identified the killed Maoists as special zonal committee (AOBSZC) secretary Gajarla Ravi (alias Uday, alias Ganesh), AOBSZC member and east division secretary Aruna, and area committee member Anju. The encounter took place near Kintukuru village between Maredumilli and Rampachodavaram areas in ASR district. Security forces spotted a group of nine Maoists near Kintukuru, leading to the exchange of fire. Bodies of the three Maoists and three AK-47 rifles were found at the spot after the firing ended. Greyhound teams identified them as Uday, Aruna, and Anju. The same squad, with more than 15 members, escaped twice during combing operations by security forces in the last couple of months. Uday and Aruna carried rewards of Rs 25 lakh and Rs 20 lakh on them, and were accused of orchestrating several killings in AP and Odisha. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Have a Makan Culture Feast! Makan Culture Learn More Undo Greyhounds carry out combing ops Vizag range DIG Gopinath Jetti said the bodies of the three Maoist leaders will be brought to Rampachodavaram hospital for postmortem, and later handed over to their family. Greyhound teams are carrying out combing operations in Maredumilli and Rampachodavaram forest areas for the escaped Maoists, who include district committee member Vijayalakshmi (alias Bhumika), and others. Police sources said CPI (Maoists') top leadership tried to provide support to the AOB committee with a 25-member military squad led by Chelluri Narayana Rao (alias Suresh) a couple of months ago, but security forces foiled their attempts. Uday was an accused in the Balimela ambush in which 37 security personnel were killed, and also other attacks in AP and Odisha. He was the secretary for Malkangiri, Koraput, and Visakhapatnam border (MKVB) division for many years. An ITI diploma holder, Uday later became known as Charchala Ganesh. Maoists operating in the AOB area have suffered serious losses in the past decade, and now their main leadership has been eliminated. Gajarla Ravi (60), from Velisala village in combined Warangal district of Telangana, joined the then People's War Group (PWG) in the 1990s. When the PWG suffered losses in north Telangana, he was sent to AOB in the early 2000s.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Death of Uday, Aruna deepens leadership crisis among Maoists in AOB region
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Greyhounds personnel, during a combing operation in the area near Akooru in Maredumilli forest of Alluri Sitharama Raju district, spotted a group of around 16 armed members of the banned CPI (Maoist). What followed was a fierce gun battle for about an hour, in which three Maoists were killed. Among the deceased were Gajarla Ravi alias Uday, a Central Committee member and the secretary of the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC), and Ravi Venka Chaitanya alias Aruna, a zonal committee member and secretary of the East Division, which controls the AOB region. The police recovered three AK 47s. The death of Uday and Aruna is certainly a big blow to the Maoists, as the security forces presume it to be the endgame of the Left Wing extremists in the AOB region. After the death of two top Maoist leaders Kudumula Ravi and Bakuri Venkataramana alias Ganesh, there was a leadership void in this region. Both were considered fierce tribal leaders. While Kudumula died of illness in 2016, Bakkuri was among the 30 Maoists killed in the Ramaguda exchange of fire in 2016. It was after their death that Uday, Aruna and Chalapathi took charge of the AOB region. There was a rumour that Uday was also killed in the Ramaguda encounter, but he survived and led the Maoists in the AOBSZC. Hailing from Velishala in Telangana, Gajarla Ravi (58) alias Ganesh alias Anand alias Uday, joined the movement in 1990. He had completed his Intermediate and ITI and was an active member of RSU (Radical Student Union). After going underground, he was posted to AOB region to revive the movement. Trained by Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, who was killed in May this year and Akkiraju Haragopal alias RK, who died of illness in 2021, Uday was supposed to be military strategist and also a leader who could recruit more tribal people. Both his brothers—Gajarla Saraiah and Gajarla Ashok— were associated with the movement. Saraiah, a member of the Central Military Commission and Central Committee, was shot dead in Kanthalapally forest in Warangal in April 2008 while Ashok surrendered in 2015. Considered a hardcore ideologist, Uday was said to be the trusted man of the senior leadership. After a series of major encounters such as in Ramaguda in 2016 and Teegalametta in 2021, in which many leaders were killed, a string of surrenders and arrests of mid-level leaders that followed, the movement had died down by 2022. Uday and Aruna, who were heading the operations, had moved to safer havens in Chhattisgarh. It was only in May 2024, after facing the heat in Chhattisgarh and with the idea of reviving the movement in the AOB, Aruna, Uday and Kakuri Pandana alias Jagan moved in with about 30 cadres. Considered an educated and fierce fighter, Aruna was the wife of former Central Committee member Chalapathi, who was killed earlier this year. She hailed from Pendurthi area of Visakhapatnam. Apart from her involvement in many cases, it is said that she had led the squad that killed former Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswar Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma, in September 2018, in Dumbriguda area of now ASR district. On May 7, Pandana, the last of the tribal leaders from the AOB, was killed in an encounter. With the deaths of Uday and Aruna, there is hardly anyone to lead the movement, say security personnel associated with anti-Maoist operations.
The Print
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Andhra Greyhounds kill Maoist central committee member Gajarla Ravi, 5th top leader killed this yr
Belonging to the Karimnagar district of Telangana, Uday was deemed the seniormost Maoist leader in the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border areas. He was also accused of hatching an assassination plot against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in 2003. Along with Uday, the Greyhounds also killed Raavi Venkata Chaitanya alias Aruna, a senior Maoist leader in the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) and wife of slain CCM Chalapathi, who was killed at the start of the year in Gariaband. New Delhi: In another setback to the organisational strength of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the Andhra Pradesh Greyhounds Wednesday killed a central committee member (CCM), Gajarla Ravi alias Uday in an encounter in the state's Alluri Sitharama Raju district. Sources in the Andhra Pradesh Police said that the exchange of fire erupted early morning Wednesday in the Devipatnam forest area under Maredumilli police circle of the Alluri Sitharama Raju, which borders Odisha's Malkangiri and Koraput districts. Sources added that Uday had first fled the Andhra-Odisha border region for Dandakaranya in 2022, but left the area following intensified operations by security forces in the region. 'He had returned from Dandakaranya to the AOBSZC in November 2024 and got trapped in an exchange of fire here,' an official said. Besides being a member of the Central Committee, the top decision-making body of the Maoists, Uday was also the secretary of the AOBSZC. While Uday is the fifth such central committee member target for the security forces in the Left Wing Extremism-affected states of the country, this is the first major success for the Andhra Pradesh Greyhounds in anti-Naxal operations this year. Weeks earlier in May, security forces had killed the general secretary of the Maoists, Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavarju, in an encounter in Abujmarh forest. With his death in the latest encounter, the top body of the CPI (Maoist) is left with only nine members—an all-time low for the banned outfit since its formation in September 2004, after a merger between CPIML People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI). Earlier this month, the security forces killed CCM Sudhakar in an encounter around Indravati National Park area in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur. Before these encounters in Chhattisgarh, the security forces in Jharkhand had killed another CMM, Prayag Manjhi, in an encounter in Bokaro. Sources in the security establishment said that the latest encounter proves that the hold of Maoist outfits in different regions is weakening. 'Senior Maoist leaders are getting killed in Dandakaranya area, which used to be their stronghold, and the killing of Uday, who was a formidable face in the Andhra Odisha border region, weakened their organisation beyond repair,' an official in the security establishment told ThePrint. (Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri) Also read: Gallantry award-winning Additional SP rank officer killed in IED blast triggered by Maoists in Bastar
