Security agencies stepped up combing operations on the borders of Telangana after receiving input about possible attempts by the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) to disturb the ongoing Assembly polls to be held on Thursday.
Even as special parties, commandos of Greyhounds and contingents of Central Reserve Police Force were deployed all along areas bordering neighbouring states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, a truck was torched on Tuesday evening near Pusuguppa of Charla mandal in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.
Armed members of the CPI(Maoist) intercepted a truck carrying paddy bags. They made the workers unload the paddy bags and set the truck on fire. Maoists went on a rampage in Chhattisgarh during the recently held Assembly polls there. A couple of days ago, election material was burnt by Maoists in that State.
“We already have intelligence inputs that Maoists would attempt to indulge in violence to disturb elections. In this backdrop, contingents of Greyhounds and CRPF are put on high alert,” a senior police officer associated with security arrangements told The Hindu. For the police, conducting polls peacefully in areas, especially those sharing border with Chhattisgarh where Maoists have a stronghold, is a challenging task.
Earlier, posters appeared in these areas with Maoists appealing to people to boycott the ensuing Assembly elections. Police believed this was done by some Maoist sympathisers or local underground activists associated with the Maoists. However, there was no movement of armed Maoists in this area till now.
Alerted by the lone violent incident, the police top-brass decided to further intensify searches and combing operations in the areas. In other parts of the State and urban centres, police made elaborate security arrangements ahead of polls. Several battalions of para-military forces had already arrived in the State in a phased manner.
Some of them had already been deployed at check-posts to inspect vehicles. Teams of the para-military forces were deployed at sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations in consultation with the local police.
