HYDERABAD: Having successfully tackled Maoists in the state, Andhra Pradesh is now
ready to extend strategic and technical support to West Bengal and other
states to battle the extremists.Andhra Pradesh, whose police
force has become a role model for the entire country, will be helping
West Bengal by providing satellite imagery and intelligence to track
down the guerrillas.Director General of Police (DGP) V. Dinesh
Reddy told reporters Thursday that police were also ready to extend all
assistance to other states affected by the Maoist violence.The
police chief pointed out that the state recently procured an unmanned
aerial vehicle (UAV) to track down the leftwing extremists.To be
based at Madurpudi in Rajahmundry in coastal Andhra, the UAV, with its
images, would help in tracking the Maoists even in dense forest areas. The images would reach the police in real time so that forces can be mobilised to hunt them down.The state will also have a 17-seater chopper available to improve transport of forces.An
official of the elite anti-Maoist force Greyhounds told IANS that since
there was hardly any armed Maoist cadre left in the state, it was ready
to help with its expertise in tackling guerrillas in other states,
especially Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar.Andhra
Pradesh, once a stronghold of Maoists, today has virtually no
guerrillas on its soil. However, as the majority of top leaders and
cadre active in other states are from Andhra, the state police provides
crucial intelligence.Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, a
politburo member of Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), who
heads the group in West Bengal, is also from Andhra.Dinesh Reddy
pointed out that Andhra Pradesh, which once had over 3,000 Maoists,
with 18 out of 21 politburo members of CPI-Maoist coming from the state,
today has about 340 cadres. "Of these, 200 have shifted to other states while the remaining 140 are on the border with neighbouring states," he said.
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