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Amaravati, Nov 20 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Police on Thursday told the state High Court that CPI (Maoist) general secretary Thippiri Tirupati alias Devuji and another top Maoist leader Malla Raji Reddy are not in the custody of the state police.
The police gave this information to the High Court when it heard the habeas corpus petition filed by Gangadhar of Telangana, seeking direction to the Andhra Pradesh Police to produce Devuji and Raji Reddy before the court.
However, the police have denied that both the leaders are in their custody. It informed the court that the Maoists arrested in five districts on November 18 have already been produced in the respective courts.
The High Court directed the petitioner to produce evidence in support of its claim that Devuji and Raji Reddy are in police custody.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the police issued a press statement that key Maoist leaders were in their custody. He asked for time to submit his statement in the court.
The court adjourned the hearing on the petition till Friday.
Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) Mahesh Chandra Laddha had clarified on Wednesday that the police had no information about Devuji’s whereabouts.
He said, “We have no idea where Devuji is now. He might be Chhattisgarh or Telangana. He is not with us. We have arrested his security team. Once we talk to him, we will know what his plan was.”
Devuji, a native of Korutla town in Telangana, is most wanted by the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Nine members of Devuji’s security team were among 50 Maoists arrested across five districts on November 18, hours after an encounter in the forests of Alluri Sitamaraju district in which top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, his wife Raje and four others were killed.
A day after Hidma’s killing, seven Maoists, including explosives expert Metturi Joga Rao alias Tech Shankar and six others, were killed in Alluri Seethamraju district.
Civil liberties groups have alleged that both the encounter and the arrests were fake. He also claimed that Devuji is in police custody.
Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) and CPI-ML New Democracy alleged that the police took Devuji into their custody in the operation.
APCLC state general secretary Chiluka Chandrasekhar demanded that the police immediately produce Devuji and other Maoist leaders in court.
–IANS
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