Revolutionary writer Varavara Rao confirmed that Maoist leader Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna alias RK is ‘safe’. The writer and activist told a newspaper that he had come to the conclusion that RK was safe, after he heard the audio clip of a woman named ‘Jagabandhu’, believed to be the spokesperson for extremists in AOB (Andhra Orissa Border) area. As per the audio, RK, along with other three prime targets, were still alive.
Top Maoist leader Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna alias RK was missing in action, after the encounter between the police and the Maoists at Ballimela in Malkangiri district of Odisha. While one Greyhound soldier was killed, 30 members of the banned outfit fell in action.
Writer and Maoist sympathiser Varavara Rao had alleged that the police had arrested RK and kept him in custody. RK's wife had also filed an habeas corpus plea saying that RK was with the police and that she should be allowed to visit him.
News about RK's safety came on the same day that the Andhra Pradesh Police told the Hyderabad High Court that they did not have him in custody. The court was hearing a habeas corpus plea by RK's wife, who alleged that the state had detained her husband and planned to kill him.
After realising that RK was still alive, Vara Vara Rao has cautioned both the state governments to stop combing operations and threatened that Maoists would intensify their activity. He also alleged that the police were in turn torturing the tribals. "RK is safe. We have clear information in this regard, but it was a brutal act on the part of police to kill innocent adivasis by branding them Maoist informers," he said. "A combing operation is still going on in Malkangiri and other parts of AOB. This must be stopped."
