Three Maoists gunned down in an encounter in Visakhapatnam agency

Three Maoists, including two women, were gunned down in an encounter in Visakhapatnam agency area on Sunday afternoon. The exchange of fire, between security forces and ultras, took place near Gummirevulu village in Gudem Kotha Veedhi mandal, in the Andhra-Odisha border.

“The exchange of fire lasted over 30 minutes. At least three Maoists were killed and two others who were seriously injured are believed to be dead. We have seized weapons and kit bags,” Visakhapatnam Rural Superintendent of police Babujee Attada was quoted as saying. Mr. Attada further informed that the identity of the deceased was yet to be confirmed.

One Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), two .303 rifles, one 12 bore rifle, six kit bags, and one landmine were among the weapons seized by the police from the scene.

It may be noted that the incident took place during the week-long celebrations of CPI (Maoist) Formation Day. Starting Saturday, the celebrations had called the Maoists to commemorate the formation of the group.

Based on intelligence reports, the police had intensified combing operations in the area. Acting on a tipoff, the security forces closed in on the Maoists in the aforementioned areas to gun down a few of them. The killings occurred a day before the first death anniversary of former MLAs Kidari Sarveswara Rao and Siveri Soma, who were killed in a Maoist attack on 23 September 2018 in Visakhapatnam district.