Ex-Naxals loot Maoist dump

Atmakur: Nallamala forests, once a stronghold of Maoists, recently resounded with explosions. But these explosions were not set off by Maoists, but those who were at one time dyed-in-the-wool Naxalites. They blew up improvised explosive devices (IED) to rip open a dump which reportedly contained a cache of bundles of currency. They succeeded in looting Rs 18 crore from a dump, according to reliable sources.

The entire exercise undertaken by a group of former Naxalites came to light on Wednesday. It is no secret that the Maoists stashed away huge amounts of money and arms cache in dumps in Nalamala forests. After several top leaders of the Communist Party of India-Maoists were killed in encounter, dumps remained untouched in the forest area.

Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the Naxalites extort a “levy” of about Rs 140 crore annually from a variety of sources. The former Naxalite got a wind of it through a former woman Maoist, who hailed from Prakasam district. The teamed up with a few anti-social elements and embarked on a venture to loot the money from the dump, it is learnt. After searching various sports along the Gangaraju canal in Nagaluty range, they zeroed in on a place in the tiger sanctuary.

It is believed they first attempted to dig the dump, but in vain. Then they blasted it with IED. The explosion created a 15-metre deep crater. The boulders under Ganagarju canal were pulverised by the blast and pieces of it were strewn all around. The gang reportedly finished job in 48 hours and fled.

Though the place where the dump was located is just a stone’s throw away from the headquarters of Nagaluty Forest Range, officials feigned ignorance of the incident. With the looting of dump seeing the light of the day, the higher officials started an investigation and reportedly pulled up the lower rung employees for turning a blind eye on the happenings in the forest range.