People lynch three Maoists in Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam: About 400 enraged villagers attacked a group of armed Maoists with sticks and stones on Sunday night at Veeravaram village and killed three of them.

The Maoists, belonging to the Korukonda area committee, had allegedly branded a local, Gemmili Sanjeeva Rao, 39, a former Maoist, a police informer and shot him dead. The village is located in the Maoist hotbed around 150 km from Visakhapatnam, in the A. Annavaram police station limits of Chintapalle mandal. The area has about 500 families and is surrounded by dense forests of teak, silver oak trees and coffee plantations.

According to reports, armed Maoists and Maoist militia members, led by Sindri Chinna Ranga Rao alias Sharath of the Korukonda area committee, had abducted Sanjeeva Rao, a former Maoist, and his friend Jagganna Dora Simhachalam, a local spiritual leader Branding them as police informers the Maoists gunned down Sanjeeva Rao despite the pleas of villagers and his family members.

When they attempted to kill Simhachalam, the irate villagers snatched their weapons and attacked the Maoists with stones and sticks, resulting in the death of three Maoists, Sindri Chinna Ranga Rao, Korra Nageswara Rao and Palasa Ganapathi.Maoist Anand and two militia members managed to escape.

Andhra Pradesh DGP J.V. Ramudu told newsmen that Sanjeeva Rao who was branded as a police informed and killed by Maoists, had joined the mainstream and had not been named in any violent incident since 2001. Mr Ramudu added that Sanjeeva Rao and Simhachalam were not police informers. Police recovered the bodies of Maoist Sharath and victim Sanjeeva Rao. The body of Ganapathi was taken by his family members and Nageswara Rao’s body was washed away in a stream.

According to reports two weapons, including an AK-47, were found at the spot. Tension gripped Balapam and surrounding areas after the incident as the locals suspected that the rebels might return to exact revenge.