Malkangiri: A special team probing the death of woman Maoist leader Meena in a combing operation was taken aback when the villagers of Andrapalli panchayat in the cut-off area of this district objected to their visit and asked them to go back, Saturday.
Meena, wife of Maoist leader Udaya, was shot dead during a joint combing operation by Andhra and Odisha police in the cut-off area bordering the state with Andhra Pradesh October 12.
Police conducted a post-mortem of her body and handed it over to her family members after they arrived here from Telangana. Two months after the incident, a team from Andhra Pradesh arrived here Saturday to probe into the ultra’s death.
The team boarded a launch from Chitrakonda reservoir and arrived at Andrapalli to investigate the incident. The team members had come prepared for the probe but never had the inkling that the locals will oppose their visit and investigation.
When they stepped into the village and were questioning some people, the tribals led by their leaders Arjun Hantal and Harimohan Khemdu holding placards blocked their way and asked them to go back shouting ‘Pheri Jaa, Pheri Jaa’ slogans.
The incident is a grim reminder of the angst, uneasiness and deep rooted fear prevailing among the residents over the Maoist activities and the inability of the security forces to come to the rescue of the villagers when they were being battered and tortured by the Maoist.
The tribals asked them why they had come to conduct a probe into the death of the woman Maoist in a joint encounter but were never seen when the ultras had been assaulting them, murdering them and driving them out of their village at the slightest pretext.
They alleged that the residents of cut-off areas were fed up with the Maoist activities. Many have lost lives and properties and become homeless while many have taken shelter in their neighbours’ houses after being forced to leave their villages. Left with no option, the members of the probe team left the panchayat and returned without conducting a probe.
PNN