Encounters are here again,2 killed in crossfire

Warangal,Oct 31:After a brief lull,encounters are here again in Warangal district.Two Maoists,both members of the Action Team of the outlawed outfit,were killed in an alleged exchange of fire between the police and the extremists.According to police here,the two Naxalites were moving on a mobike in the forest area near Kodavatancha village of Regonda mandal of Warangal district on Saturday morning. A police team which was on a combing operation in the area asked them to surrender.The Maoists, instead, opened fire in order to escape and the police retaliated the firing killing both o f them on the spot.

The deceased extremists are identified as Manthani Raju alias Daya of Jangedupalli village of Bhupalapalli mandal in the district,and Bhaskar, both members of the Action Team of the extremist outfit, police said adding that efforts are on to find the nativity of Bhaskar.The police recovered two sophisticated weapons from the spot and the bodies are shifted to the nearby hospital for post-mortem. The police have begun combing the forest range here after a tip off that extremists are again moving in the district.In the recent past, there was an uneasy calm in Warangal district, considered to be a hotbed for the Naxalite groups. Saturday’s encounter killings once again disturbed the eerie silence and reminded the locals of the days of the worst extremist violence in this stronghold.