Local security conflict

Seven Maoists, including a top commander, were killed during an encounter with cops in Telangana's Mulugu district this morning, a week after two tribal men were killed over suspicion of being police informers. The encounter broke out in Chalpaka forests between the Maoists and the elite anti-Maoist Greyhounds force around 5:30 am, said police. The Greyhounds had spotted the Maoist group during combing operations and ordered them to surrender. They, however, fired at the commandos, forcing the cops to fire back in return.
Bhadru alias Kursam Mangu alias Papanna, 35, Yellandu-Narsampet area committee commander of the CPI (Maoist) and a member of its Telangana State Committee, was among those killed.
Six other Maoists killed in the encounter were identified as Egolapu Mallaiah, 43, Mussaki Deval, 22, Mussaki Jamuna, 23, Jai Singh, 25, Kishore, 22, and Kamesh 23, who were being led by Bhadru.
They were armed with AK-47, G3 and INSAS rifles besides other weapons and explosives, which have been seized by the cops.
This is the first major Maoist encounter in recent years in Mulugu amid attempts to reorganize and revive their activities in the region. It follows the murder of two tribal men in Mulugu on November 21 by the Maoists over suspicion that they were police informers.
The two men were later identified as Uika Ramesh, the secretary of Peruru Gram Panchayat, and Uika Arjun. The Maoists had left a note with their bodies claiming that they were collecting information and passing it on to a state intelligence agency.