Tribals lynch 3 Maoists in Vizag

CHINTAPALLI (Visakhapatnam): In what is perhaps the first incidence of tribals killing Maoists in the history of the naxalite movement in Andhra Pradesh, a group of irate tribals lynched three extremists, including a district committee member (DCM), after the Reds killed one of their fellow villagers, Gemmeli Sanjeeva Rao, at Veeravaram village in Chintapalli mandal on Sunday night.
While there have been incidents of tribals attacking Naxalites due to the latter’s ‘atrocities’, this is the first time that they killed naxalites. The dead Maoists were identified as DCM Sindri China Ranga Rao alias Sarat of Kannavaram village in Visakha agency and Palasa Gangapati of Sabbapalli and Korra Nageswara Rao of Gillebanda, both members of militia squad.
According to sources, on Sunday night a group of 30 to 40 Maoists came to Veeravaram village to kill Sanjeeva Rao, a former naxalite and his friend Satyanarayana alias Simhachalam. Maoists suspected them of being police informants.
A group of 10 naxalites caught hold of Sanjeeva Rao and Simhachalam when they were returning to Boddalaveedhi and killed Rao incurring the wrath of the villagers. The villagers attacked the naxalites killing three of them on the spot.
Simhachalam had been organising religious programmes in villages and was respected by the villagers. But the Maoists suspected him and Sanjeeva Rao of being police informants.
A group of 10 naxalites led by district committee members Sarat and Anand entered Veeravaram while their other colleagues waited outside the village. The Maoists caught hold of Sanjeeva Rao and Simhachalam when they were returning to Boddalaveedhi and announced that they were killing them for "acting as police informants." The villagers pleaded with the rebels not to harm Sanjeeva Rao and Simhachalam. However, when the Maoists went ahead and killed Sanjeeva Rao, an angry mob of nearly 400-500 villagers set upon the naxalites.
Despite the attempts of the Maoists to chase away the tribals by firing at them, one of the villagers hit Sarat on his head with a bamboo stick killing him on the spot. The mob then reportedly attacked the others in the group and killed two more Maoists, even as the rest of the naxalites, including DCM Anand, fled the village.
Visakhapatnam rural SP Koya Praveen and other officers involved in anti-Maoist operations rushed to Chintapalli and deployed
security personnel to monitor the situation, sources said.