Naxals call for bandh tomorrow to demand release of colleagues

Nagpur, May 23 (UNI) Naxalites have given a call for a bandh in Gadchiroli, Gondia and Chandrapur districts in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh and Balaghat district in adjoining Madhya Pradesh to demand the release of three Naxals arrested by the police in recent weeks.

The call for the bandh has been given through pamphlets purportedly issued by the Communist Party of India (Maoist), which were found in some parts of Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Gondia districts.

The pamphlets, issued by the so-called Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee of the outfit's Maharashtra State Committee, demands the 'unconditional' release of Mahesh alias Ashok Reddy, also known as Murali, Arun Parreira and Gopanna alias Satyam Reddy.

Of these, the police arrested Murali and Parreira, along with two other suspected naxalites identified as Dhanendra Shriram Bhurale (35) and Naresh Babulal Bansod (42) in Nagpur on May 9. These four are now in police custody and have been taken to Mumbai for conducting a narco-analysis test. Gopanna is in the custody of Chhattisgarh police.

Inspector General of Police (Anti-Naxalite Operation) Pankaj Gupta told UNI that a red alert had been sounded in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Gondia districts in view of the bandh call. Security has been tightened in the three districts and additional forces have been deployed there, he said.

Meanwhile, the police exchanged fire with groups of suspected naxalites at two different places in Gondia and Chandrapur districts yesterday. One encounter took place in the forest near village Kalimati in Gondia district, and the other near village Aypetha in Gadchiroli district. There were no casualties among the police, but it is suspected that some naxalites were injured in the encounter.

The naxalites escaped into the dense forests, the police said.

UNI