Hyderabad, March 20: Days after two top Maoist leaders were killed in ‘encounters,’ a Naxalite couple were killed in an exchange of fire in Khammam district even as the ultras alleged that another top Maoist leader was in the custody of Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) of the State police and might be killed in a fake encounter.
In a joint statement, spokespersons for the CPI (Maoist) Central Regional Bureau and Dandakaranya Special zonal committee, Pratap and Gudsa Usendi, alleged that after killing top Maoist leaders Sakhamuri Appa Rao and Kondal Reddy in fake encounters, SIB had also picked up politburo member Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad.
‘‘Azad was supposed to meet Appa Rao and both were expected to visit the Dandakaranya guerrilla zone. But we lost contact with him ever since Appa Rao was picked up by SIB on March 11.
Azad’s arrest has not been declared and we feel a conspiracy is underway to eliminate him,’’ the statement said.
They said police officials had themselves issued a statement in the name of Azad to create an alibi. However, top police officials contacted by Express maintained that Azad was not nabbed.
Protesting the recent encounters, the CPI (Maoist) has given a call for bandh on March 22 and 23 in six states including AP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa.
Meanwhile, the Maoist couple killed in Khammam district was identified as Kanithi Pullaiah alias Venkanna of Sitarampuram village in Venkatapuram and Lakshmi.
–Agencies