Nallamala emerging as shelter zone for Maoists?

MAHBUBNAGAR: The dense Nallamala is likely to emerge as a shelter zone for Maoists if the recent Naxal movement in the forest belt is any indication. After bifurcation, the Nallamala has become an inter-state forest between AP and Telangana, and Maoists have so far taken shelter in forests on state borders.
Police also fear a spurt in their activity during the monsoon as the tree covers turn denser with almost nil visibility.The rains will also result in increased availability of food in the forests.
According to tribals living in the Nallamala forest, there has been an increase in the movement of Maoists. “Annalu are now increasingly moving in the interior villages. For almost eight years there was a lull in the movement of Annalu. After the division of the state, their footfall has gone up,” a Chenchu leader told TOI. Recently, Maoists were seen at Munnanur village in Atchampet division and Ajilapur.
There have been reports that the Maoists have taken shelter for some time in Bollavaram village abutting the forest in Kurnool district. In fact, the police arrested 10 Maoists from the jungle last month. Jana Sakthi leader Kura Rajanna was also taken into custody from a house in a hamlet in the forest.
Senior police officials, however, deny the movement of Maoists in the forest. Hyderabad range DIG Y Gangadhar said the police in the two states have been sharing information. He, however, refused to accept that there was regrouping of Maoists in the Nallamala. “We have not received any reports of the Maoists regrouping. But we have perfect coordination with the AP police,” he pointed out.
Nallamala was once the bastion of the Maoists, but after the unsuccessful peace talks between the AP government and the Maoists during 2004-2005, the police launched an offensive forcing the Maoists to retreat.
Maoists have always concentrated on inter-state borders as they can easily move out of one state into the other after committing offence. Lack of effective coordination between police of different states has often helped the Naxals to hop from one state to another. According to experts, Maoists have thus far been operating from AP-Odisha, AP/Telangana-Chhattisgarh, Telangana-MP and Telangana-Maharashtra borders.