Senior Maoist leader dies in gunfight

The top leader of the Maoists Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was killed in a gunfight with police in Andhra Pradesh.

In a major blow to Maoists, their top leader and spokesperson Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was killed in a gunfight with police in Andhra Pradesh on Friday, police claimed.

The shootout took place near Jogapur in Adilabad district, about 300 kilometres from Hyderabad.

Another Maoist guerrilla, who has yet to be identified, was also killed. Police also recovered an AK-47, a 9mm pistol and two kit bags from the scene of the gunfight.

Azad was a member of the central committee of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

Hailing from Krishna district, he had been associated with the Maoist movement for four decades. The authorities had offered a reward of Rs1.2 million to anyone who could hand Azad over to the police.

Following the killing of Azad, security agencies sounded a high alert in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhatttisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Azad was gunned down by police two days after Maoists killed 27 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Chhattisgarh.

In March, CPI-Maoist had said Azad had gone missing and alleged that he had been arrested by the police, reported BBC. But the party later issued a statement saying that he was safe and back at his hideout.

The Maoists, also known as Naxalites, say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor who have been neglected by the government for decades.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described their insurgency as India’s biggest internal security challenge.

Also on Friday, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will pressurise the Centre to rope in the army to fight Naxals in affected areas.

“The BJP leadership wants that the services of the army should be used in the Naxal-hit areas of the country to put an end to the problem,” Sushma told reporters at a press conference in Raipur.

The senior BJP leader was in the district to participate in price-hike protests. The BJP will pressurise the Centre in the upcoming monsoon session to utilise the army in the extremists-hit areas, Sushma said.

“The Center is in a fix over using army in these areas. It should give up this attitude,” she said.

The Indian government has so far been reluctant to use the army against the Maoists.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2010.