Charla mandal in the erstwhile Khammam district reverberated with blasts late on Sunday (September 6) night. Maoists blew up the Tippapuram main road that passes through Midisileru in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. People in the vicinity panicked by the sounds of bomb blasts in the midnight and ran out onto the roads. Later, they came to know that it was the act of Naxalites.
Once a hotbed of Naxalism, Telangana is now seeing such acts of destruction less and less in numbers. The fresh incident comes amid claims of police that Naxalism has all but disappeared in the state.
Sending a signal
It is felt that the Maoist party has weakened considerably in the last few years in Telangana. There are reports of top leaders of the party like Muppalla Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapati, who hails from Telangana, are on the path of surrender to authorities. Media reported that Ganapati is holding talks with Central and state government officials as well as with his family members towards this end. The surrender of such an important leader as Ganapati who was at the helm of the party until recently as central committee secretary, would be a big blow to the party’s image.
After a couple of days of intense speculation, the party came out with a vehement denial of reports of surrender. A two-page statement in the name of one Abhay on behalf of the central committee blamed the Central and state governments for circulating such ‘falsehoods’ to create the impression that it is all over for the CPI(Maoist). In this backdrop, blowing up of the road is seen as an act of desperation on the part of the Naxalites to prove that they are still strong and can inflict damage on the state. It is typical for Maoists to indulge in acts of destruction or attacks on security personnel whenever they are perceived as weak. Tippapuram incident is also likely to be such an act aimed to prove their existence and influence.
