Telugu Dipak tells cops that party unhappy with Kishenji

U Sudhakar Reddy

Top Maoist Telugu Dipak, alias Venakteswara Reddy, who was arrested by the West Bengal police, has told them that the CPI (Maoist) central committee is unhappy with Kishenji alias Mallojula Koteswara Rao, over the publicity campaign he is running. Dipak, who was a key aide of Kishenji, also developed differences with him. The Greyhounds inspector general of police, Mr Anjani Kumar, visited West Bengal and returned to the city after questioning Telugu Dipak. Sources said that Kishenji’s announced policy decision without proper consultations with the CPI (Maoist) central committee which has irked other top Maoists.A senior official said, “Kishenji is neither a spokesperson nor secretary of the central committee. He was always on the TV screens and giving interviews to the print media. This has irked other top Maoists as Kishanji is trying to impose his personal decisions on the party.”The Greyhounds IG, Mr Anjani Kumar, visited the West Bengal CID office and explained the tactics of guerrilla warfare to the police officials involved in anti-Naxal operations in Bengal.He had presented videos of Greyhounds operations and shared experiences in fighting Naxals with officers from Maoist infested areas like West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.As Telugu Dipak is also wanted in several cases in Andhra Pradesh, Mr Kumar also spoke to the officers who interrogated him, and himself interrogated Dipak. A team of Special Intelligence Branch also questioned Telugu Dipak

Dantewada massacre: Top Maoists Tirupati and Sudarshan lead attack

By U Sudhakar Reddy

Two top Maoists from Andhra Pradesh, Katakam Sudarshan and Tipparti Tirupati, led the biggest-ever attack carried out by Naxals in the country in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
Though there are reports that around 1,000 Maoists took part in the attack, senior police officers of the state who are familiar with Naxal operations say that only around 300 attackers were present. It is believed that there are around 3,000 armed Maoists in Chhattisgarh.
Source said at least three “military companies” of the CPI Maoist People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army united for the operation.
“The central regional military command led by Tirupati executed the attack under the guidance of the political wing of the central regional bureau led by Sudarshan,” said a senior police officer.
“The local dalams of the Dandakarnaya Special Zonal Committee may also have assisted them. The central regional bureau covers parts of AP, Chhattsigarh and Orissa.”
Sudharshan, 53, hails from Bellampally in Adilabad and carries a reward of Rs 12 lakhs on his head. He and Tirupati, 46, who are also members of the central committee, are wanted in several cases, including the attack on former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The DKSZC is dominated by Telugu-speaking Maoists. In all, 15 out of 20 members of the committee are from Karimnagar, Warangal and other parts of AP.
Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy, alias Kosa, of Gopalarapalli in Karimnagar, is the secretary of the DKSZC. Maoist Muppala Lakshmana Rao, alias Krishna Kumari (Ganapati’s wife), is district committee secretary of South Bastar.
(Graph COURTESY OUTLOOK INDIA)

Maoists adopt Al Qaeda strategey and shows video

U Sudhakar Reddy

Maoists are adopting the strategy of international terror organisations like Al Qaeda by video shooting their attacks on security forces and distributing them to their party cadres.Video clips said to be of the attack on a base camp in Chhattisgarh were sent to TV channels in the state on Sunday. In the video, the armed Naxals are seen crawling under police vehicles and planting explosives, and later the explosion ripping the vehicle apart. There are also shots of Maoists attacking the camps and the ensuing gunbattle. The video features Tipparti Tirupati, alias Devaji, the top Maoist specialist in military affairs, who participated in the recent Dantewada massacre. Intelligence sleuths who analysed the video clips believe they relate to the Maoists attack on a Salwa Judum base camp in Chhattisgarh and may not be related to the Dantewada massacre as they initially believed.A senior police official said that a similar video had surfaced earlier of a July 2009 attack in which 30 police personnel including a superintendent of police of Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh, Vinod Kumar Choubey, was killed.Experts say that the Maoists may be trying to boost the morale of their cadres in the state by showing visuals of the attacks, a strategy adopted by other terror groups. Al Qaeda has released videos of their operatives blowing up United States tanks, said a police official. It is also part of the propaganda war of the Maoists where training visuals and actual attack shots are mixed, say police officers with experience of Naxal methods.

Drug controllers want Police powers to curb drug mafia

U Sudhakar Reddy

The Drug Control Administration (DCA) offi-cials in the state are not empowered to arrest drug traffickers and cannot book cases under the stringent Narcotic Drugs and Psy- chotropic Substances Act.
As such, drug peddlers go scot free as DCA’s hands are tied up due to legal con- straints. Drug controllers in the state want amendment to the Act empowering them in the wake of rising cases of diversion of pharma inter- mediary products for mak- ing narcotic drugs.
Only the police, the Direc- torate of Revenue Intelli- gence (DRI), Narcotic Drugs Control Bureau and customs officials are empowered under this act.
The DCA assistant direc- tor (Vigilance and Intelli- gence), Mr K. Rajabhanu, says, “to punish the offend- ers, a thorough investigation needs to be conducted and evidence collected to strengthen the prosecution.
As per the suggested amendment, the burden of proof shall lie with the person possessing alleged spurious drugs. This is already in vogue in UP West Bengal.” The state government has to notify granting powers to the drug inspectors on par with the police to enforce NDPS Act. Drug controllers are also demanding powers to arrest without warrant.
They have also asked for immunity from prosecution as the drug offenders are fil- ing false cases against the officials. Meanwhile, Cen- tral Drugs Standard Organi- sation has announced a reward scheme to curb the menace.

Top guerrilla: Ashanna the task master of CPI Maoists

U Sudhakar Reddy
AP's `most wanted' forty two year old Ashanna alias Takkelapalli Vasudeva Rao hailing from Warangal district in AP is the task master in guerrilla warfare of the CPI Maoists. Ashanna led the teams that executed attacks on VVIPs in the state. He is Andhra’s most wanted Naxal.
He is accused in the clay- more mine blast attack on former CM N. Chandra Babu Naidu at Alipiri in Tirupati in which Naidu survived with injuries. He is also accused in the killing of former Home minister E Madhava Reddy. Ashanna also pulled the trigger on IPS official Ch Umesh Chandra.
Hailing from a lower mid- dle class family in a for- ward caste in Telangana region, Ashanna is a grad- uate, was active in the Rad ical Students Union and then went underground 20 years ago. He is married to another dalam member.
"Ashanna is known for his military tactics. He uses Ak-47s as well as smaller weapons. He is suspected to be hiding outside Andhra but returns to carry out operations," said an intelli- gence official.