Fear gripped interior villages along the periphery of the reserve forest areas in Gundala and Karakagudem mandals as police intensified search operations in pursuit of Maoist rebels believed to have ventured into the forest fringe areas, considered erstwhile strongholds of naxal groups.
A large posse of police personnel, split into teams, scoured the forest areas in Gundala mandal bordering Mulugu district for the second consecutive day on Friday, sources said.
The police scaled up anti-Maoist operations in the forest fringe areas following specific inputs about the movement of the ultras in the areas spanning across the borders of the two tribal-dominated districts.
