Maoists Strike Back, Kill 12 Policemen On AP Border

High-intensity blasts rocked the Sunki-Salur highway near the Mogaram Guma village in the Koraput district, on the Maoist-infested Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border, killing seven police personnel and injuring 20 others including a civilian on Friday night.

As per the Andhra Pradesh Police, the Maoists in the region placed an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on the highway after receiving information of police movement along the road. The heavily armed police convoy, carrying about 27 persons, was headed towards Cuttack for counter-militant training operations. And late in the night, the convoy stepped over the IED, triggering the high-intensity explosion that killed 12 persons and injured 20 others. The road, too, was decimated as it caved in 7 feet deep and spewed out huge chunks of debris.

The injured were shifted to a State-run hospital. Large police forces, helicopters, and other medical and security teams were deployed at the spot. Forensic teams, too, arrived at the scene and began their investigations. The blast radius and intensity made the incident appear like the work of highly trained operatives, causing the police to indict Maoists as the key suspects.

In a recall, back in 2016, more than thirty Maoists were ambushed and killed in a massive State-funded counter-terror operation (AOB Maoist Encounter) in the Malkangiri district along the AOB. In the operation, Maoist top leader G Ramakrishna (RK) went missing and was presumed dead for a while. The counter-op marked the end of the Maoist stronghold in the region. Later, the government initiated "peace talks" and asked the remainder of Maoists to surrender peacefully. Several militants gave up arms and retained their civilian lives, as per reports.

However, the latest high-voltage attack has risen suspicions among the cops and the locals that the Maoist movement on the borders is anything but dead.