Bodies of three Maoists will be handed over to kin after legal process, say police

Raavi Jhansi, sister of slain Maoist Aruna, arrives at the Rampachodavaram Area Hospital in Alluri Sitharama Raju district on Thursday.

The bodies of the three Maoists who were killed in an exchange of fire would be handed over to their family members after following the legal process, Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district Superintendent of Police Amit Bardar said on Thursday.

Addressing the media here, Mr. Bardar said the family members of the three Maoists, upon being informed, arrived at Rampachodavaram to receive the bodies.

“The legal process to hand over the bodies is going on. We will hand over the bodies respectfully once the process is completed,” Mr. Bardar said.

The Superintendent of Police was responding to the allegations levelled by the family members of slain Maoist Venkata Raavi Chaitanya, alias Aruna, alias Ruppi, that the police had not informed them about the death of Aruna and they were not allowed to see the body.

Referring to the encounter, Mr. Bardar said they had information about the movement of the Maoists in the Rampachodavaram area on June 17, following which combing operation was initiated.

“On June 18, between 7 a.m. and 7.15 a.m., an exchange fire had taken place in the Kintukuru forest area under Rampachodavaram police station limits. After the encounter, we found the bodies of three Maoists, two of them women. We recovered three AK 47 rifles, magazines, kit bags and Maoist literature from the place,” Mr. Bardar said.

Apart from Aruna, the other Maoists were identified as Gajarla Ravi, alias Uday, alias Ganesh, a central committee member carrying ₹25 lakh reward on his head, and Anju, alias Mase, who carried a reward of ₹1 lakh.

“Uday and Aruna were involved in more than 150 criminal cases, including the killing of an MLA and former MLA in 2018 and IED blasts,” Mr. Bardar said.

The Superintendent of Police said they had information that about 30 Maoists had entered Andhra Pradesh via Odisha from Chhattisgarh after the announcement of Operation Kagar in November 2024. “After the first exchange of fire in April and surrenders, there may be five to six members still moving in the AOB region. The operation is still on,” he said.

Published - June 19, 2025 07:22 pm IST