Security tightened ahead of Maoists' two-day shutdown

Security has been tightened in states affected by Maoist violence in view of the 48-hour shutdown from Wednesday called by the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) to protest the killing of their spokesperson Azad.

Security has been tightened in states affected by Maoist violence in view of the 48-hour shutdown from Wednesday called by the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) to protest the killing of their spokesperson Azad.

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Union home ministry officials said the government had issued an alert.

Minister of State for Railways E. Ahamed told IANS that "the railways, as a matter of practice, always take precautionary measures whenever there is a bandh called by any outfit or political parties".

The Maoists have urged people to avoid trains on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Maoist strike is expected to hit normal life in their strongholds in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, where their senior leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was killed in a gunfight last week.

Top Maoist leader Kishenji had said that basic amenities like milk, vegetables, medicines and emergency services like railways, ambulance and fire services had been exempted from the shutdown.

Kishenji, chief of the CPI-Maoists military wing Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), said Azad and his companion were not victims of a gun battle with police, but were killed after being arrested.

"Azad was arrested from Nagpur along with another Maoist Sukdeb, and taken 150 km to Adilabad where both were shot dead," he alleged, adding that Azad was on his way to Dandakaranya to attend the CPI-Maoists' central committee meeting when he was caught by the police.