Hyderabad : Police in Telangana’s Khammam district had a gun battle with the Maoists after foiling their attempt to set afire a communication tower Sunday night but there were no casualties, the state police chief said.
Director General of Police Anurag Sharma told reporters here Monday that the gun battle lasted for an hour. Personnel of anti-Maoist force Greyhounds are still combing the area for any extremists.
The police chief said a police party had reached Satyanarayanapuram in Cherla mandal of Khammam district on a tip-off that Maoists may attack a mobile phone tower. A group of 10 to 15 extremists had come to the village to set afire the tower.
“The extremists opened fire and police retaliated. The exchange of fire lasted for an hour. The extremists fled leaving behind petrol cans and their material including three guns,” the DGP said.
The Maoists have called for a shutdown in Warangal and Khammam districts Monday to protest killing of a tribal youth by police a few days ago.
The police chief said the left wing extremist activity had come down in Telangana during 2014. Four people were killed in the Maoist violence this year as against five last year.
There were seven exchanges of fire between police and Maoists this year. One extremist was killed in one of these gun battles. As many as 68 Maoists surrendered during the year
Sharma said police were aware that Maoists would definitely try to regroup in the state. “Our force is prepared to contain and prevent them from entering into the state,” he said.
Maoists had been making efforts to cross into Telangana from Chhattissgarh by crossing Godavari River in Karimnagar district. Referring to a recent such incident, he said this can’t be termed as an attempt for resurgence.
Greyhounds, the elite anti-Maoist force has been divided between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “Whatever units came to us are good enough to tackle Maoists. We are also training district police parties to ensure that our forces are not lacking,” the DGP added.