The East Godavari police believe that Maoists belong to the Chhattisgarh cadre could be behind the torching of construction equipment at Sarivela hamlet in Chintoor Agency on the Andhra-Chhattisgarh border on June 6.
The Sarivela-Venkatramapuram area, where suspected Maoists torched the machinery, is five km from the Chhattisgarh border, which is believed to be a strategic location for Left Wing Extremist groups in recent years.
East Godavari Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi said the suspected Maoists might have come from the Chhattisgarh side and torched the machinery. Investigation is on. Locals claim that nobody from the local side (Andhra cadre) was involved in the act, he said.
Mr. Asmi said the incident was clearly against the interest of the locals who condemned it by taking out a rally against the Maoists. We still need to work for more clues on the incident, he added.
On the afternoon of June 6, suspected Maoists asked the people present at the road and bridge works to leave the area before setting fire to the machinery. The next day, suspected Maoists tried to disrupt power supply by felling a tree on the power line in the area, 15 km away from the Andhra-Chhattisgarh border.
To avoid any untoward incident or attack, the police remained alert and kept themselves away from Sarivela and Venkatramapuram villages and Pega area where the tree was axed.
Till date, no Maoist group had claimed responsibitlity for the two incidents.
