HYDERABAD, India, 29 April 2006 — Nine Maoists, six of them women, were killed in a gunbattle with police in the Cuddapah district of the southern Andhra Pradesh state yesterday.
According to Superintendent of Police Y. Nagi Reddy, the gunbattle took place near Pulusugunda village which is in Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s constituency — Pulivendula —500 km southeast of the state capital Hyderabad.
Police launched search operations early yesterday after receiving a tip that a group of rebels were hiding in the forests when the militants opened fire, said Reddy. A three-hour gunbattle followed in which at least nine rebels, were killed, Reddy said.
Those killed have not yet been identified, but police believe they were members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Reddy said, adding that police had received information that senior leaders of the party were gathering in the woods.
Police have retrieved a large amount of arms and ammunition from the area when the rebels fled deeper into the forests. Additional paramilitary soldiers were being sent to the area to follow through, he said.
The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting for more than two decades, demanding land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor.
In the past the rebels have often targeted police and government officials, whom they accuse of colluding with landlords and rich farmers to exploit the poor.
Meanwhile, a superintendent of police in neighboring Chhattisgarh state was yesterday suspended for not obeying a government order asking him to serve in a Maoist bastion. The government issued an order this month asking Sanjay Tiwari to be posted in Bijapur but he did not respond, B.K.S. Ray, the additional chief secretary, home, told IANS by telephone.
— Additional input from agencies
