Andhra lawmaker, TDP leader shot dead by Maoists

VIJAYAWADA: ARAKU MLA KS RAO AND SIVERI SOMA, A FORMER LEGISLATOR OF THE CONSTITUENCY, WERE KILLED WHEN THEY WERE RETURNING FROM A GOVT PROGRAMME

A legislator of Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and one of his party colleagues were killed by Maoists in a daylight attack in Visakhapatnam district, police said on Sunday, in what is seen as the first major strike by the militants in the state after it was bifurcated in 2014.

Kidari Sarveswara Rao, the 48-year-old MLA of Araku, and Siveri Soma, a former legislator of the constituency, were targeted when they were returning from a government-sponsored ‘village visit’ programme, officials said.

“A group of Maoists came along with the villagers, and blocked the MLAs’ car. As the personal security officers of the legislator and the ex-legislator got down, they snatched the AK-47 rifles from them and shot Sarveswara Rao and Soma dead,” Visakhapatnam Range deputy inspector general of police Ch Srikanth told news agency Press Trust of India.

Rao won the Araku constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates, as an YSR Congress nominee in 2014. He later joined the TDP.

In July, tribals staged a protest against the MLA for allegedly obtaining a permit for the quarrying of black stones, which locals objected to. His stance in favour of bauxite mining has also drawn the ire of Maoists, who have traditionally protested development activities in forest areas.

Intense counter-insurgency operations in the past few years have resulted in Maoists losing their foothold in Andhra Pradesh. A major campaign in October 2016 led to the killings of 31 Maoists in an encounter at Ramguda. It was seen as a revenge for the deaths of 37 Greyhounds personnel at Balimela in 2008.

Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock after the attack on two of his partymen, saying there was no place for violence in a democracy.

Officials could not confirm how many people were involved in Sunday’s attack. Eyewitnesses said a group of 40-50 Maoists, including women, emerged from the forests, intercepted the MLAs’ vehicle and snatched away the weapons of security personnel. Both politicians were shot at a close range. Their bod-