NIA arrests 2 from AP in 2019 Tiriya encounter case

VIJAYAWADA: National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Kandula Sirisha, wife of Maoist leader Akkiraju Haragopal alias RK, and Duddu Prabhakar, who has links with Maoists, for their alleged participation in the Tiriya encounter of 2019.

The premier agency has disclosed that Sirisha and Prabhakar had been arrested on Friday on the basis of RK's diary. They took Prabhakar into custody in Vijayawada and Sirisha in Alakurapadu in Prakasam district.
The encounter in which the accused had been involved took place in 2019 near Tiriya village of Chhattisgarh. Six Naxals and a civilian had been killed in the encounter. With the arrest of Sirisha and Prabhakar, the total number of those arrested in Tiriya encounter case (also known as RK Dairy case) has risen to six.

According to NIA investigations, both the arrested have worked closely with top leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation. Kandula Sirisha, a member of a frontal outfit, had previously been active as technical in-charge of armed cadre. Both Sirisha and Prabhakar used to receive funds from CPI (Maoist) for distribution to different frontal outfits and to spread the Maoist ideology.

According to NIA, Sirisha and Prabhakar frequently visited the core Naxal belt in the Andhra-Odisha border special zone, where they would meet late R.K. alias Akkiraju Haragopal, leader of the United Front. The Tiriya encounter had taken place in July 2019, when a joint team of local District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) combed the forest area near Tiriya in Nagarnar area of Jagdalpur district in Chhattisgarh after a tip-off.

It may be recalled that after the encounter, security forces recovered, apart from bodies of six Naxals and one civilian, arms and ammunition, along with incriminating handwritten documents and literature. The case was initially registered on July 28, 2019, under various sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It was re-registered by the NIA on March 18, 2021, after the agency took over the case.