By IANS
Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh police fanned out Wednesday through the forests bordering Chhattisgarh to foil attempts by Maoists to enter the state following the killing of 24 security personnel by rebels in the neighbouring state.
Police have also been put on high alert in areas bordering Orissa.
The police of all three states declared the alert in their borders areas following reports that Maoists could launch more attacks in the region.
Andhra police fear that the Maoists who gunned down the 24 security personnel in Errabore in Dantewada district near Andhra border late Monday might try to cross over either from Chhattisgarh or Orissa.
Police in several areas in Khammam district bordering Chhattisgarh have launched combing operations to foil any Maoist attack. A tight vigil is being maintained on all entry points into the state and vehicles are being checked at different places, including East Godavari district.
Maoists, who suffered reverses in Andhra Pradesh during the last two years, are more active in Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand. However, police here do not rule out Maoists launching surprise attacks. There are intelligence reports of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) trying to regroup in the state's Nallamalla forests spread over five districts.
Meanwhile, CPI-Maoist has threatened to launch attacks in Andhra Pradesh. The outfit issued a statement Tuesday threatening attacks against the police and ruling Congress party leaders to avenge the killing of two of leaders.
Maoist leaders Sande Rajamouli and Chettiraju Papaiah were gunned down by police in alleged gun battles last month in Anantapur and Warangal districts respectively. The outfit, however, claimed that the police arrested them in Kerala and Karnataka and killed them in cold blood.
The CPI-Maoist secretary or their top most leader Ganapathy in the statement blamed the Congress government and certain police officers for the killings.
The outfit has lost more than 200 guerrillas, including top leaders, in the state during last two years dealing a blow to the movement.
The statement, however, said that 'setbacks' were common in a revolutionary movement. Ganapathy claimed that the people's movement would once again spring back to life, as it did in 1985-87 and in 1992-94.
More than 6,000 people have died in Maoist violence in the state since the rebels, who claim to be fighting for the cause of poor and landless, began an armed movement in 1969 in Srikakulam district bordering Orissa.