Naidu Security to be Upgraded as Naxals Vow 'Suicide Attacks'

Amaravati: Security cover of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is being stepped up in the wake of a letter purportedly written by the outlawed CPI(Maoist) threatening to "take revenge" on him over the Malkangiri encounter this week in which 28 ultras were killed.

Currently, Naidu is under 'Z plus' category protection and his security detail includes members from the elite National Security Guard apart from AP Police's Intelligence Security Wing.

He had survived a claymore mine attack by Naxals way back in October 2003 at Alipiri, on the foothills of Tirumala.

Strangely, the letter, issued in the name of Maoist leader Shyam, spoke about "suicide attacks" which was hitherto unheard of in any of their communications. Hence, the veracity of the letter was being questioned.

The letter, threatening to avenge the "Malkangiri killings" by specifically targeting the Chief Minister and his son Lokesh, was sent to a Telugu media house in Hyderabad.

Incidentally, owner of the media house had a meeting with the Chief Minister in Vijayawada yesterday afternoon.

"We will review the security systems currently in place for the Chief Minister and increase the security accordingly," Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) A B Venkateswara Rao told PTI on Thursday.

According to police sources, there were "two schools of thought" over the alleged Maoist letter.

"Going by the language, the letter must have been written by one of the front organisations of Maoists and not the main organisation as such. It was the first time that they spoke about suicide attacks.

"It only exposed the frustration in the outlaws' ranks after the deadly blow at Malkangiri," a top police official observed.

Interestingly, it's on a similar point that groups sympathetic towards the Maoists are terming the letter as "fake".

"The letter in the name of Maoists is totally fake.Suicide attacks are not Naxalites' style. They only wage an ideological fight," Revolutionary Writers' Association leader Kalyan Rao, one of the Maoist emissaries who took part in the 2004 peace talks with the State Government, pointed out.

The gun-battle took place in Odisha's Malkangiri district on the border with Andhra Pradesh on October 24. The anti-Naxal offensive was a joint operation by Andhra Pradesh and Odisha Police.