The Maoist movement suffered a big blow, as top Maoist leader Sakhamuri Appa Rao, on whose head was a reward of Rs. 10 lakhs, was killed in an encounter near Netikonda in Pullala Cheruvu in Prakasam district.
Appa Rao was the main accused in the murder of DIG K S Vyas in Hyderabad in 1993. He was arrested then in Madras, and released in 2000, after which he returned to Maoism. He was also a suspect in the killing of former Home Minister Madhav Reddy, as well as the Alipiri attack on former CM Chandrababu Naidu.
Appa Rao hails from Khanapur in Warangal district. Earlier, Appa Rao had gone underground in 1982, when he had joined Radical Students Union when he was in his polytechnic. He then joined the People's War of the CPI (M). He was known for his competence in military operations.
His body is being shifted to Erragondlapalem in Prakasam district.