Naxalites slay Balapam sarpanch near Hyderabad

CHINTAPALLI (Visakhapatnam): Striking terror in the hearts of locals as well as police personnel ahead of the elections, Maoists killed the recently elected sarpanch of Balapam panchayat, a Red stronghold, in Chintapalli in the wee hours of Tuesday for contesting the elections against their order.
The 38-year-old sarpanch, Sinderi Karla, was hacked to death by a group of Naxals after being dragged out of his house at Rallagedda of Balapam panchayat.Karla is survived by his wife and two children.
According to sources, around 50 Naxals and militia members led by Maoist leaders Kiran and Azad entered the village around 2.30 am on Tuesday, tied up Karla's hands and dragged him out of his house.
The Naxals told the sarpanch's wife that they wanted to discuss some issues with him and also hold a meeting in the village.
They took him to a martyrs' pylon on the outskirts of the village. Interestingly, Karla was one of the persons instrumental in constructing the martyrs' pylon, sources said
Raju told media persons that he soon heard his brother's cries for help and after a few minutes the villagers found Karla lying lifeless in a pool of blood with a deep wound on his neck.
The Reds left a note on Karla's body warning Prem Singh, Sobhan, Soma Raju, Nooka Raju and Sanjeeva Rao that they would meet the same fate if they did not leave the village along with their families. Alleging that Karla was a police informer, the note also accused him of colluding with the Annavaram and Chintapalli police and playing a key role in illegal arrests and surrenders as well as in harassing people agitating for their rights on coffee plantations and at bauxite mines. They also accused him of playing a key role in laying roads along with the Essar pipeline.
The note, left in the name of the Korukonda committee, also alleged that Karla had contested the local body elections though nobody was willing to contest or vote. The Naxals said they had warned Karla through letters, leaflets and the Praja court, but he did not heed their warnings.
Karla was unanimously elected sarpanch of Balapam panchayat last month and reportedly joined the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). The Balapam panchayat election was postponed in August last year when no one was willing to contest in the wake of Maoist threats.
According to sources, Karla, who was a strong Maoist sympathiser, was among the 75 Maoist militia members and sympathizers that surrendered before the police in 2012. After the surrenders, the police got access to the village that was once considered to be a Maoist stronghold in the Korukonda tracts.
Visakha Rural SP Vikram Jeet Duggal told TOI that the police had warned Karla three days ago that he was on the Maoist hit list. "We had warned him to leave the village for a safer place for a few days, but he was confident that the Naxals would not do anything to him if he was in the village," Duggal said, adding that the Naxals were ironically targeting innocent tribals that they were claiming to be fighting for.