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2 Telugu CRPF jawans killed in Bijapur encounter were to marry soon
The two Telugu jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who were killed along with 20 others in the exchange of fire with the extremists of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in the forests of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, were to get married soon, their family members said
The two Telugu jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who were killed along with 20 others in the exchange of fire with the extremists of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in the forests of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, were to get married soon, their family members said.
While the wedding ceremony of Routhu Jagadish (27), a resident of Gajularega area in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram town, was fixed for May 22, the parents of Sakhamuri Muralikrishna (28) of Gudipudi village of Sattenapalli block in Guntur district, were looking for a suitable match for him.
“Jagadish spoke to me on Friday and discussed the arrangements to be made for the marriage next month. He said he would come to Vizianagaram this week on a holiday to shop for the wedding and other personal works. We were all waiting for him. Unfortunately, we got this sad news,” Jagadish’s father, Routhu Simhachalam, a worker in a petrol bunk, said.
Jagadish’s mother, Ramanamma, was inconsolable. She wailed with her son’s photograph in her hands. His sister, Saraswati, got married last year.
“Jagadish joined the CRPF in 2010 and got into the Cobra squad because of his daring nature. He was a very active and jovial person. He has lots of friends in Vizianagaram. Whenever he came to the town, it was like a festive atmosphere,” Ramesh, one of his friends in the neighbourhood, said.
Hundreds of youths took out a rally by holding tricolour, placards and banners in Vizianagaram town, raising “Jagadish Amar Rahe (long live Jagadish)” slogans. They observed a shutdown at Gajularega area as a mark of respect to the departed soul.
Muralikrishna, another CRPF jawan, from Guntur district, also joined the CRPF in 2010 and had been posted in the Cobra-210 wing. His parents, Ravindra Babu, a private employee, and Vijaya Kumar, a homemaker, were also planning to get him married this summer.
“The family recently built a new house in view of Muralikrishna’s marriage. He came home in February on a holiday and gave a green signal to his parents to look for a match. He told them he would come back to the village once the marriage is settled. But we got this bad news yesterday,” one of his relatives said.
Expressing shock over the killing of two bright Telugu CRPF jawans, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced an ex gratia of ₹30 lakh each to the bereaved families.
He extended his heartfelt condolences to the family members of Jagadish and Muralikrishna and prayed for strength to the families to overcome the grief, an official release from the chief minister’s office said.
Meanwhile, the police administration in the Telangana districts of Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu and Jayashankar Bhupalpally, sounded a high alert in the villages that border Chhattisgarh. The administration is on alert suspecting the possible sneaking of Maoists and their supporting tribals into Telangana crossing the Godavari river.
A senior police official in the Bhadradri Kothagudem district said Terrem area, where the deadly encounter took place, was hardly 60 kilometres away from Charla block in the district.
“Whenever there is a massive encounter in Chhattisgarh forests, the Maoists attempt to cross the Godavari river and take shelter in the border villages of Telangana for sometime before retreating to their hideouts,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Within hours of the encounter killings, hundreds of police forces belonging to the CRPF, Greyhounds (elite anti-Maoist forces of the Telangana police) and special party police of the districts, swung into action and intensified the combing operations.
“In coordination with the Chhattisgarh Police, we have kept a watch on all such areas where there is a possibility of the Maoists entering Telangana for shelter,” the official said.
Intensified checking of all vehicles coming from across the border has begun and the police forces are also posted along the Godavari river to check any ferrying of suspects from Chhattisgarh.
