Year by and large crime free in Tamil Nadu

Chennai, Dec 29: The year 2006 may have passed off peacefully in Tamil Nadu, but the revelation that rockets and launchers, meant for Naxalites and seized at Achambedu in Mahaboob Nagar district of Andhra Pradesh on September 7, were manufactured at the suburbs here were a severe embrassment to the state police.

The shocking discovery of seven manufacturing units near Ambattur on the outskirts of the city shattered the state police's claim that there was no major Naxalite activity in Tamil Nadu after the arrest of Naxalites at Uthangarai in Dharamapuri district in 2002.

The Andhra Pradesh Police while searching a lorry in Achambedu found rockets, rocket launchers and spares packed in gunny bags and these bags were booked through a lorry booking office at Ambattur near Chennai.

During interrogation, police came to know that these consignments of 139 gunny bags were booked by a person claiming to be Srinivasa Reddy and was booked as spinning mill spares, from three different dates from August 2005 to May this year. The consignment were addressed to Srinivasa Reddy at Vijayawada and the last consignment was addressed to one Rama Reddy at Nellore.

The case was intially handled by the local police and considering the importance and possibility of involvement of Naxalites, the case was subsequently transfered to Q branch police. The Q branch police arrested seven persons, the owners of the engineering units and were looking after Raghu alias Srinivasa Reddy of Nellore and his wife Sudharani, Naxal activists.

The investigation revealed that Raghu came to Ambattur in 2002 and gained confidence of the accused by giving small manufacturing orders. He is said to have manufactured the components for assembling rockets, launchers from 2003 to May 2006 with their help, in the name of Srinivasa Reddy.

Hearing they were wanted by the police, Thota Kumaraswamy alaias Yech Madhu alias Madhu of Nellore who himself called as Raghu alaias Srinivasa Reddy, surrendered before the police in Andhra Pradesh recently, along with his wife Sudharani.

UNI