'Maoist' killed with Azad was journalist: Maoists

Hyderabad,July 3: The Communist Party of India-Maoist Saturday claimed that the man killed along with top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad in an alleged gun battle with police in Andhra Pradesh was a freelance journalist but police said he was a Maoist.According to the outlawed outfit, Hem Chandra Pandey, a native of Dewaltal village in Uttarakhand, was killed along with Azad. Pandey, 32, was a freelance journalist based in Delhi and was working for Hindi dailies Nai Duniya and Rashtriya Sahara, they said. The CPI-Maoist had initially suspected the man to be its cadre, Sahadev. However, Gudsa Usendi, spokesman of the Dandakaranya special zone committee of the CPI-Maoist, claimed that the other slain person was a journalist. He alleged that the police picked them up in Maharashtra, brought them to Andhra Pradesh and killed them in cold blood. Azad and his accomplice were killed in an alleged exchange of fire with police in Jogapur forests in Adilabad district, about 300 km from here. Police had stated that the other Maoist killed in the shoot-out was not identified. Maoist sympathiser Varavara Rao said Pandey was doing a story on the police atrocities on tribals in the name of Operation Green Hunt. Adilabad police said Pandey was a Maoist. Police have also denied allegations by Maoists and their sympathisers that it was a stage-managed gun battle. The autopsy on the bodies of Azad and other man was conducted at the Government Hospital in Manchiryal town of Adilabad district. Azad's body was brought to Hyderabad amid tight security. The last rites will be performed here Sunday. The other body has been kept at Manchiryal hospital.
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TRS MP Vijayashanti arrested, released on bail

Hyderabad, July 3 : Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader and MP Vijayashanti was released from jail on bail Saturday evening, a few hours after she was arrested for making inflammatory remarks ahead of the July 27 by-elections in Telangana and sent to judicial custody.A city court granted bail to the actress-turned-politician, who alleged that police misbehaved with her and said she had decided to take up the issue with the prime minister and Lok Sabha speaker. After her release from Chanchalguda jail this evening, she told reporters that the way a woman MP was treated by the police was shameful. "My only crime is that I gave a slogan," she said referring to the allegedly provocative remark she made a few days ago. Vijayashanti, who had earlier refused to move a bail petition, said as a disciplined solder of the party and also in view of the law and order situation, she agreed to the party decision to apply for bail. The bail was granted a few hours after a court sent her to 14 days judicial custody. Police arrested her from Road Number 3 Banjara Hills near her residence and brought her before the third additional chief metropolitan magistrate at the Nampally criminal court. The Medak MP was Friday booked for promoting animosity and hatred among people. The TRS leader, while addressing party workers a few days ago, had called upon people in Telangana to "slay" anyone who opposed formation of a Telangana state. Earlier, tension prevailed near her residence in Banjara Hills as police used force to disperse TRS workers who gathered there to resist her arrest. Vijayashanti, who went into hiding Friday after police filed a case against her on the directions of the Election Commission, was taken into custody by police while leaving for Siddipet in Medak. The actress, known as Lady Amitabh for her roles in Telugu movies, had heated arguments with police officials. "I was in my house throughout the night and even this morning but you did not come. Now you are arresting me on the road," the MP told them. TRS workers raised slogans against the police, who had a tough time controlling the crowd. Congress legislator T. Jayaprakash Reddy was also arrested for making provocative remarks. He represents Siddipet assembly, a part of Medak Lok Sabha constituency. Reddy, arrested in Sangareddy, will be brought before a magistrate, police said.
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CBI blames pilots for YSR's chopper crash

Hyderabad, July 3 : Human error, more specifically wrong judgement by the pilots, led to the fatal crash of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy's helicopter in September last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has concluded after a probe.The CBI, which submitted its report to the Central and Andhra Pradesh governments on Friday, has ruled out any sabotage or conspiracy angle to the accident.YSR, as the chief minister was popularly known, died in the chopper crash in the state's dense Nalla Malla forests on September 2, 2009. Two state government officials and both the pilots also died in the accident.The CBI, in its report, said that the pilots were late in realizing that the aircraft was losing altitude and they raised an alarm just 18 seconds before the crash."The chopper had started losing altitude and even disappeared from the radar screens of the Air Traffic Control at 9:23:30 hours. By the time the pilots realized what was happening, it was too late," the report states.A detailed study of the Bell-430 VT APG chopper's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) by the CBI led to these findings.The last recorded words on the CVR were: "Go around go around action"."He (YSR's son Jagan) said some prominent people had reasons to eliminate his father. This allegation was looked into and it was found that neither sabotage nor conspiracy was behind the crash. It was an accident which could have been avoided. None other than the pilots are responsible for the crash. They chose to go ahead with the flight despite adverse weather conditions," the CBI said in its report.
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Vijayashanthi arrested for alleged inflammatory speeches

Hyderabad, July 3 : The Hyderabad police on Saturday took into its custody actor-turned politician and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Member of Parliament Vijayashanthi for allegedly making inflammatory speeches.The Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer had earlier issued notice to her in the matter.It has been reported that Vijayashanthi made provocative remarks at a Telangana Rashtra Samiti meeting on June 30.The Hyderabad police had registered a case against her in this regard on Friday. There was also a clash between the TRS supporters and the Hyderabad police on Friday, when they attempted to arrest her.She has been charged under section 505, 153-A for promoting enemity.
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Mother, brother allowed to see Maoist leader's body

Hyderabad, July 3 : The mother and brother of top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, gunned down by the Andhra Pradesh Police a day earlier, were Saturday allowed to see his body.Tension prevailed at Machriyal town in Adilabad district as police prevented revolutionary balladeer Gaddar, writer Varavara Rao and other Maoist sympathizers from entering the Government Hospital. But the police allowed Azad's mother C. Karuna to see his body before the autopsy began as per the directions of the high court. She was accompanied by Azad's brother C. Suresh. Accompanied by other family members, Varavara Rao and activists of various civil liberties groups reached the hospital where Azad's body was bought with that of another Maoist for autopsy. There was a heated argument between police and rights activists as officials refused to allow let except Azad's mother and brother inside the hospital. Mediapersons staged a protest against the police for not allowing them into the hospital premises. Maoist sympathizers alleged that the police killed Azad in cold blood after capturing him in Maharashtra. "The government has killed the man who was to participate in the talks, which shows it is not interested in peace," Gaddar told reporters outside the hospital. The balladeer warned that killings of Maoist leaders in what he called were staged shootouts would lead to "a mass revolution" against the central and state governments. Azad, considered second in the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) hierarchy and also the spokesperson of the outfit, was shot dead Friday by police in a shootout in the forests near Jogapur in Adilabad district, about 300 km from here, police said. Another Maoist who was killed has been identified as Sahadev.
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