AOB Maoist Encounter: RK Safe, Claims Varavara Rao

After accusing the Andhra Pradesh government of kidnapping top Maoist leader G Ramakrishna (a.k.a. R K), Virasam leader Varavara Rao today claimed that the maoist leader was alive and in safe hands, and that he had concrete information on his whereabouts, which he would not divulge so soon.

Rao revealed on Thursday that R K was safe, as per the information he held. However, he did not disclose the source of the information or the whereabouts of the elusive leader.

"Now that we know that Ramakrishna is alive, the Andhra Pradesh police can stop harassing and torturing Girijans in the name of gathering information. Stop the hunt. He is safe and will venture out only when he has physical and legal protection," Rao told the police.

Subsequently, R K's wife Sirisha's Counsel withdrew the "habeas corpus" petition that she had filed in the High Court on Friday seeking the institution's intervention into the issue.

As a recall for those who came in late, the Vizag Rural SP, on behalf of the AP government, in a counter petition filed before the Division Bench of the High Court of Hyderabad, comprising of justices C V Nagarjuna Reddy and M S K Jaiswal, on Wednesday had made it amply clear that R K was not in police custody.

This comes as a respite as the past few days saw tensions rise in the two Telugu States over the disappearance of several maoist leaders including R K.