Andhra Pradesh: 3 Maoists gunned down in Guntur

Ongole: Police gunned down Maoist Nallamala Forest Division Committee (NFDC) secretary Jana Babu Rao, 48, alias Ashok, Vimala, 40, and Bharati, 38.

There were rewards of Rs 5 lakh on Ashok, Rs 4 lakh on Vimala and Rs 3 lakh on Bharati.

This was the first encounter here since the killing of Maoist top leader Sakhamuri Appa Rao on March 12, 2010, at Nerajamula Tanda of Pullalachervu Mandal in the Nallamala forest. The police had been combing the area to nab Ashok, Vimala and Bharati for the past four years and their efforts paid fruit on Thursday.

Serious Maoist activities started in the district in 1989 with the killing of Daggubati Chenchuramaiah, father of former minister, Dr Daggubati Venkateswar Rao.

However, the encounters of Maoist central committee member Matta Ravikumar on June 5, 2006, at Nerajamula tanda of Pullalachervu and party state secretary Madhav alias Burra Chennaiah Goud and eight others on June 23, 2006, at Chukklakonda were big blows to the Maoists.

As many as 54 encounters have been registered in the district (according to police records) in which 47 Maoists have been killed. The Maoists have, in turn, gunned down 58 people.

Prakasam district SP P. Pramod Kumar said that while three Maoists were killed in the encounter in the Nallamala forest, one had escaped and they were waiting for more details.