Bodies of six Maoists identified in Telangana

Bodies of six out of eight Maoists killed in a gun battle with police on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border have been identified on Wednesday, police said here.

Bodies of four Maoists have been handed over to their relatives after autopsy at Bhadrachalam area hospital in Khammam district of Telangana.

The Maoists, among them five women ctivists, were shot dead by police in an exchange of fire on Tuesday near Guttepadu in the Chintavadu forests in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, about 15 km from Khammam district.

Five of those identified hail from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh while the sixth one is from Chhattisgarh.

The bodies identified are Yusufbi alias Bhagya, Sujana and Sarakka (all from Telangana), G.M. Ramesh alias Lachanna and Madakambandi (both Andhra Pradesh) and Raju (Chhattisgarh).

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday directed the Telangana government to submit a detailed report on the killing of the Maoists.

The court gave the direction on a petition filed by Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), which alleged that police murdered the eight Maoists.

Directing the authorities to preserve the bodies and hand them to relatives after identification, the court adjourned the hearing to Thursday.

Meanwhile, police in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday arrested three Maoists. The arrests were made in West Godavari district. A country-made weapon was seized from them.