Hyderabad: Appealing to Telangana tribal people not to support Maoists, the state Director General of Police Mahender Reddy on Saturday alleged the top leadership of the banned organisation was leading an affluent lifestyle while innocent tribals are being made scapegoats.
Reddy, who held a high-level review with senior police officials in Mulugu district, said the state police resolved not to allow any activities of Maoists on Telangana soil.
"Maoist Party senior leaders such as Hari Bhushan and Damodar are leading luxurious lives while innocent tribal people are being victimised. The Maoists are trying to re-enter into Telangana. We will not allow their misdeeds on Telangana soil," a police press release quoted the DGP as saying.
He said the police would effectively thwart the attempts being made by the Maoists who "fled" 10 years ago, to re-enter into the state with a plan to extort money by threatening doctors, engineers and businessmen.
Reddy said the Maoists were trying to create unrest in Telangana at a time when the people of the state are happy living as every village is now connected by roads and getting facilities like education and health.
The DGP warned that the department will deal a severe blow to the Maoists who commit "murders" in the guise of informers.
ALSO READ: Telangana: 2 groups of Maoists escape after exchange of fire with cops
On Friday, he said police were on alert and were conducting massive combing operations to nab five CPI Maoists, including a senior member, carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh, who escaped after an exchange of fire with police in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district on July 14 night.
He had told reporters as many as 500 personnel of greyhounds, the elite anti-Naxal force of Telangana police, Telangana State Special Police, Armed Reserve and local police were on the hunt for the Maoists.
He exuded confidence that they would soon be nabbed and appealed to people not to provide shelter to the outlaws.
Two groups of Maoists members, including the five ultras led by Bhaskar, Telangana "State Committee" member of CPI(Maoist), armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, had escaped after an exchange of fire with police in separate incidents in forest areas in KB Asifabad district and Bhadradri- Kothagudemdistrict on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Reddy vowed to ensure that there was no Maoist activity in Adilabad, Asifabad, Nirmal and Mancherial districts that constitute the erstwhile undivided Adilabad district.
He said the Maoists were seeking to create terror and tension among Adivasis and also sow seeds of suspicion at a time when the government has taken up a lot of development and welfare programmes.
Reddy warned that development and welfare programmes undertaken by the state government, particularly for the benefit of the Adivasis, would be hampered if Maoists were allowed to re-enter the district.
"People should cooperate with police and not provide shelter to the Maoists and ensure they do not re-establish base. Development and welfare programmes will be hampered (if the Maoists re-enter)," the DGP had said.
Bhaskar, who hails from Adilabad district of Telangana, is allegedly involved in multiple offences and has gone underground for nearly 30 years.
He carries a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head announced by the state government.
His wife is also a Maoist, police said.
The group had entered Telangana from bordering Maharashtra and had been moving around in the forest areas for the past two months. (PTI)
Read:| Chhattisgarh: Naxals use remote-controlled IEDs with tree-top antenna in Maoist-hit Dantewada
