Landmines unearthed in Agency

Visakhapatnam: The special police, who were on their way to combing, had an escape when an advance party detected two landmines buried under the road between Kumada and Rudakota villages under Peda Bayulu mandal in the Visakhapatnam Agency on Tuesday.

The place was about 5 km from the Kumada police out post and 20 km from the encounter site, where 34 Maoists were killed in October.

Superintendent of Police Rahul Dev Sharma said the two powerful mines, each weighing 20 kg, were placed three feet below the bitumen road.

A special team including a bomb disposal squad led by additional SP Babuji Attada rushed to the spot and defused them successfully through controlled explosion far from the public.

Condemning the Maoists, the SP said that the landmines could have harmed not only the police but also innocent people including children who often use the road.

The police stepped up combing operations due to the ongoing PLGA week, which began on December 2. Tribal families in five hamlets close to the police outpost were tensed following detection of the landmines.

The police enquired with the tribals about movement of any suspicious characters near their villages but made no arrests, another police officer said.

The Maoists triggered off a landmine in the same place in which a CRPF jawan was injured on April 6 this year.

The CRPF assisted the local police in establishing the Rudakota outpost.