Faced with major setbacks, naxals brainstorm strategy

Visakhapatnam: Crippled by severe blows in the form of arrests, surrenders and encounters, the CPI (Maoists) reportedly held a review meeting headed by the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) members at the AOB a couple of days ago. Senior AOBSZC members like Dubasi Sankar alias Mahender and Narayana Swamy alias Damodar reportedly attended the meeting that assessed the present situation in the East Division and alleged differences among the cadres and leaders, sources said.
According to the sources, the meeting discussed the losses incurred by the area committees of Galikonda and Korukonda in the East Division due to surrenders and arrests, besides the encounter at Marripakalu-Palasamudram in Koyyuru mandal on May 4 in which Galikonda Area Committee secretary VRL Gopal alias Azad, Julumuri Anand and a woman naxal were killed by security forces. Senior leader and PLGA company chief Kudumula Venkata Rao alias Ravi also died due to illness in April.
Surrender by Sarita, the first woman commander of PLGA Company in AOB, along with another senior cadre Bonangi Ramulamma alias Bharati in the last week of May also shook the Maoist rank and file. Sarita had trained many squads in the AOB after she underwent special training in Chhattisgarh. Senior woman naxal Vantala Chechu alias Vasantha, the wife of division committee member Krishna, was also arrested by the cops in the same month. For the past six months, squad members like Jhansi and Russo as well as around 50 militia members either surrendered or were arrested.
Under these circumstances, the top naxal leadership in AOB has swung into action to strengthen the rank and file in the East Division, which shares borders with the Maoist strongholds of Malkangiri and Koraput districts in Odisha on the one side, Chhattisgarh on another side and a little stretch with East Godavari. If the naxal movement near Chhattisgarh is weakened, then it would is a major cause of concern for them, the sources said, adding that the Maoists always try to protect the AOB areas for the sake of their heartland in Chhattisgarh.
A senior security personnel on conditions of anonymity told TOI that AOBSZC leaders Mahender and Damodar enquired into the Marripakalu encounter as well as the death of PLGA commander Ravi. According to sources, the meeting was held for two consecutive days and the members discussed at length about damage control measures. Mahender also reportedly enquired about senior leader Chalapati's photograph along with wife Aruna that the cops were able to get from Azad's laptop.
According to the sources, the senior leaders also discussed about bringing in leaders who are familiar with the terrain from other strongholds to carry forward the movement in East Division. As per information available, the naxal leadership is planning to bring Kakuri Pandanna alias Jagan, a tribal leader, as the chief of East Division. Pandanna was the security head of central committee leader Ramakrishna Alias RK.