Fear gripped the Agency areas, especially in the AOB region, ahead of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) Week being observed by the CPI(Maoist) from December 2, with posters to this effect surfacing on Friday.
The posters were seen near the Palakajeedi weekly shandy, located 90-km from Koyyuru mandal in the AOB region of Visakhapatnam Agency.
‘Encounters fake’
The Maoists claimed that the State government should pay remunerative price for the crops cultivated by the girijans and compensate them for the loss due to drought.
They also condemned the recent killing of their cadres in Malkangiri and Andrapalli, and stated that they were fake encounters staged by the security forces of A.P. and Odisha.
Through the posters, the Maoists urged the youth to join the PLGA and fight against the State establishments and Brahmanical ideology. The PLGA Week is being observed by the Maoists since the year 2000 to condemn the killing of three central committee members of the banned outfit – Seelam Naresh, Nalla Adi Reddy and Yerramreddy Santosh Reddy – by the security forces in the Koyyuru forest in Karimnagar district, Telangana, on December 2, 1999.
Recruitment
The Maoists use this period to take forward their cause and create a platform to recruit fresh blood into their fold.
Through the posters, the Maoists urged the girijan youth to join the outfit and fight to protect the forest wealth and resources under the slogan, ‘Jal - Jungle - Zameen ki jeet’ (victory for water - forest - land).
Police said that the tribal people were scared on seeing the posters.
As a result, the turnout at the weekly shandy was very poor, they said.