7 Maoists, including key leader, killed in police gunfight in Mulugu forest

Hyderabad: Seven Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire (EoF) with the police in a forest area in Mulugu district of Telangana on Sunday.

The incident occurred during a combing operation in the forest area of Eturnagaram between Greyhounds, an elite anti-Naxal force of Telangana Police and the ultras, police said.

“Seven Maoists were killed in the exchange of fire,” a senior police official said and added that two AK-47, G3 and INSAS rifles besides other weapons were seized from the scene.

Senior leader among killed

Among those killed was Kursam Mangu alias Bhadru, secretary of Telangana State Committee (Yellandu Narsampet) of the banned CPI (Maoist), he said. Bhadru also carries an AK-47 rifle with him. There was a reward of Rs 20 lakhs on his head.

The confrontation also claimed the life of Egolapu Mallaiah (43), also known as Madhu, a member of the divisional committee from Rajapur village in Ramagiri mandal in the Peddapalli district. He carried an AK-47 weapon and served as the secretary of the Eturnagaram-Mahadevpur area committee.

The other Naxals killed in the fight were Mussaki Jamuna (23), Jaisingh (25), Kishore (22), Kamesh (23), and Mussaki Deval (22), also known as Karunakar, who was a member of the area committee. They are from various regions of Chhattisgarh. Following the confrontation, police retrieved the rifles and bodies.

Two men killed for being 'police informers'

The encounter on Sunday is the first significant one in the region in a few years, as the Maoists try to regroup and rekindle their activities in the Mulugu district. According to reports, the Maoists in Mulugu executed two tribal males on November 21 on suspicion of being police informers.

Uika Ramesh and Uika Arjun were the two men who were killed. Ramesh was the Peruru Gram Panchayat secretary. The two were allegedly attempting to gather information and provide it to the state authorities, according to a message discovered alongside their bodies.