Andhra police arrest 50 Maoists in major multi-district crackdown

The crackdown coincided with an encounter at Maredumilli in Alluri Seetharam Raju district on November 18 where top naxalite commander M Hidma and five others were killed.

"Following Hidma's killing, we launched a coordinated intelligence-driven operations across five districts and apprehended 50 CPI (Maoist) cadres," said ADGP Intelligence Mahesh Chandra Laddha, addressing a press conference in Vijayawada.

Police said that the arrested cadres belonged to different ranks within the Maoists, including special zonal committee members, divisional committee members, area committee members and regular party members operating across the south Bastar-Dandakaranya region.

According to Laddha, this is one of the most extensive operations undertaken in recent years, resulting in the arrest of 50 Maoist operatives from multiple districts.

The operation was carried out across Krishna, Eluru, NTR, Kakinada and Konaseema districts, including Vijayawada City in a silent, synchronised manner, he said.

Personnel from the State Intelligence Department, Special Investigation Branch (SIB), district police units and the Vijayawada Commissionerate took part in the crackdown following inputs on the Maoists movement.

Laddha said that many cadres fled from Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur and West Bastar districts in Chhattisgarh due to sustained security pressure and they were arrested in Andhra Pradesh.

Police recovered 39 weapons, 302 rounds of ammunition, detonators, cordtex wire, communication devices and Rs 13 lakh in cash from various locations during the searches.

The ADGP observed that three special zonal committee members and several divisional committee members were among the arrested cadres, marking a significant leadership collapse within the Maoist structure.

The operation prevented their reorganisation attempts and dealt a major blow to Maoist networks operating between Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, he added.

"The entire operation was executed with silent precision, ensuring no cadre escaped and no civilian was harmed," SIB chief PHD Ramakrishna told PTI.