Cops woo Maoist citadel, Dedra
Adilabad: Not just they pull triggers, but they can also strike a chord in one’s heart - seems to be the other side of the cops these days. But for the sobriquet of naxal village, it earned for producing quite a few of them, Dedra under Bazarhatnoor mandal, 300 kms north of Hyderabad, where basic amenities and mobile signals are a dream, would have remained a nondescript tribal hamlet.
The difficult to access tribal hamlet had its strong presence in the rank and file of outlawed CPI-Maoists in the past. But for the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee leader Dasariwad Sumana alias Sangeethakka, who carries Rs 5 lakh bounty on her head, many others laid down their arms before the State for various reasons ranging from health issues to cops’ persistent perusal through State’s rehabilitation package.
Over the years, the 350-odd residents of the Dedra’s 90 households have been dependent on just on well they have for drinking water needs. The cops who identified the problem provided the villagers with a water treatment plant. This apart, the police also distributed school uniforms to 26 children of the village and books of great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi. Besides conducting medical camps frequently in Bazarhatnoor mandal, the police have also provided medicines and spectacles.
Talking to The Hans India, Superintendent of Police Vishnu S Warrier said: “I met Sangeethakka’s mother Anjanabai and urged her to pursue her daughter to surrender and join the mainstream to get benefits under the rehabilitation programme.” There is no point in spending 18 years underground leaving her near and dear, he said, referring to Sangeethakka. It’s right time for her to join mainstream instead of running all the time in thickets, the SP said.
It’s learnt that police offered three months’ ration to Anjanabai, who is living in penury. Village Patel Mesram Manik Rao sought the police to provide a BT road and a cell tower. It may be noted here that the then Superintendent of Police M Srinivas adopted the village in 2017 in a bid to develop and make it naxal-free.