Amid Maoist threat, Greyhounds, CRPF deployed in agency

REPORTS SAID nearly 1,500 personnel from Greyhounds and CRPF have been deployed in Rampachodavaram and Yetapaka divisions for conducting the third phase elections in agency areas

Greyhounds, paramilitary forces and armed state police were deployed in agency tracts in East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts following a boycott call given by the outlawed Maoists.

Taking the threat seriously, no candidates filed their nomination papers for Nenjeri gram panchayat in Peda Bayulu mandal of Visakhapatnam district.

Reports said nearly 1,500 personnel from Greyhounds and CRPF have been deployed in Rampachodavaram and Yetapaka divisions for conducting the third phase elections in agency areas in East Godavari district.

Police officials are coordinating with their counterparts from Sukuma (Chhattisgarh) and Malkangiri (Odisha) and other places in the two States and also Visakhapatnam district to prevent any untoward incidents. East Godavari Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi said that security personnel are taking all steps to ensure peaceful polling in agency areas. He said that all 11 mandals in Rampachodavaram and Yetapaka divisions are being considered as extremist-affected areas but the attention is more on Chinturu, Yetapaka, Kunavaram, Gurthedu and other 25 villages.

He said that the closure time of polling has also been reduced to 1.30 pm from 3.30 pm.

East Godavari District Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy visited Rampachodavaram and reviewed arrangements with ITDA project officer Praveen Adhithya on Monday.

In Visakhapatnam, armed police personnel would be deployed in all the 237 of 244 gram panchayats going to polls in Paderu division. The tribal areas remained sensitive in all the elections and in the fresh call, the Maoists termed the local body elections as bogus and appealed to the people to oust the exploitative parties.