The Chintoor division became a gateway for the banned Maoist groups for the procurement of logistics and ammunition apart from serving as a safe route to escape into three States — Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
The Left-Wing Extremist activities reported since the inclusion of the seven mandals with 211 revenue villages of Khammam district in Telangana into East Godavari district continue to pose a major challenge to the police to conduct the local body elections 2020 in a peaceful manner.
Chintoor, said to be the gateway for the members of the banned left-wing extremist groups to gain entry into Andhra Pradesh from Telangana, Chattisgarh, and Odisha, gained momentum as a strategic location for the Maoists in recent years.
In November 2019, the East Godavari police seized 358 gelatin sticks in the Rampa Agency, in which six militia members surrendered before the police in early 2019. In mid-2018, a 24-year-old Maoist Mulchuka Lakshmaiah, a native of Sukma in Chhattisgarh, was nabbed by the East Godavari police in the Chintoor area.
Lakshmaiah’s presence in the Rampa Agency speaks how the tri-State border serves as the emergency escape route for Maoists from the police through any State border. He was allegedly wanted in the 20 extremist activities registered under the Chintoor division.
In 2019, three Gutti Koya tribals — Bodike Bheemaiah, 33, Guttupalli Suresh, 26, and Punem Ramesh, 30, —were arrested while supplying gelatin sticks and 39 electric detonators in the Chintoor sub-division.
The troupe of 40 police personnel had a miraculous escape from the landmine blast executed by the Maoists in Kaligonda forest in the Rampa Agency in early 2017.
On Saturday, East Godavari Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi said; “We have problematic villages due to the left-wing extremist groups. We are preparing to estimate how much security force is required to be deployed in our Agency to conduct the local body elections peacefully in the conflict area.”
Mr. Nayeem has added that the list of problematic villages will soon be finalised, enabling the State government to depute the additional forces (mostly paramilitary forces).
Speaking to The Hindu, Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA-Rampachodavam) Project Officer Nishant Kumar said; “There are 120 panchayats in the ITDA jurisdiction.” Majority of incidents with Maoists were reported under these panchayats.
