Bodies of slain Maoists shifted to Andhra

Hyderabad, April 18 (IANS) The bodies of nine Maoists killed in an alleged gunfight with police in Chhattisgarh forests were shifted to their native villages in Andhra Pradesh early Thursday, two days after the incident, police said.

After an autopsy at Konta in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, the bodies were brought to Andhra Pradesh. Amid tight security, the police shifted eight bodies to their villages in Warangal district and one body to Karimnagar district.

The slain members of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) include five women.

Their relatives, who had rushed to Bhadrachalam in Khammam district Tuesday night to take the bodies, had to wait for more than 24 hours as the police shifted the bodies back to Chhattisgarh for autopsy.

Though the families and civil liberties activists insisted that the autopsy be done at Bhadrachalam, the police shifted the bodies to the neighbouring state citing rules regarding jurisdictional limits.

The autopsy was done late Wednesday and the bodies were brought to their villages early Thursday morning.

Earlier, police clarified that the dead include Marri Ravi alias Sudhakar, secretary of Khammam-Karimnagar-Warangal (KKW) division committee and member of North Telangana state zonal committee, who was carrying a Rs.8 lakh reward on his head.

The clarification came after revolutionary writer Varavara Rao said Sudhakar's family members did not find his body.

The family was told that a bullet riddled body is that of Sudhakar, who had gone underground in 1995. Sudhakar's wife Lakshmi alias Pushpakka, secretary of Kothagudem-Narsannapet area committee, was also amongst those killed.

The Left-wing extremists were killed Tuesday in a joint operation by the commandos of Greyhounds, the elite anti-Maoist force of Andhra Pradesh Police, Chhattisgarh police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Varvara Rao, however, alleged that the Maoists were killed in a 'covert operation' by the police. He suspects that the Maoists were poisoned and later shot dead.