The Andhra Pradesh police has plunged into action following a request from the Orissa police for help with negotiations with the Maoists as well as for tracking down abducted Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Ekaka.
The request for help came after it came to light that two top Maoists from Andhra Pradesh — Ramakarishna and Dubasi Shankar — had played key roles in the abductions of the Italian tourists and the MLA.
Anti-Naxal experts in state police suspect that the Maoists are resorting to a series of abductions in Orissa to divert the attention of the police and paramilitary forces from a top-level meeting being held in Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand.
A senior state police official said, “We are trying to help Orissa with the collection of information and negotiation strategies. Our forces on the Andhra-Orissa border are also on high alert and have launched intensive combing operations. The MLA’s kidnap can be a diversion tactic. We are suspecting that they are organising a meeting in Dandakaranya or Jharkhand.”
There are two Maoist state committees in Orissa. The Italians were kidnapped by the Orissa state committee and the MLA by the Andhra-Orissa Border State Committee of CPI-Maoists.
An alert has also been sounded regarding the safety of politicians, including ministers and MLAs in north Telangana and north coastal Andhra, following the abductions.
The police has, however, ruled out sending an unmanned aerial vehicle to pinpoint the location of the Maoists who abducted the MLA. “A UAV can be useful only to scan a small area; in this case of vast forest cover it won’t be of any use,” said a police official.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Maoists had observed a bandh and had resorted to violence.