Malkangiri, May 13: The Maoists fear has gripped the Ramaguda village under Andrapalli panchayat here to such an extent that even the villagers here have vacated their houses and stayed at their relatives’ place in Kamaraguda. Among the 15 families, 12 of them have moved to their relatives’ houses leaving behind their food grains and cattle in the village. They did so after the naxals frequently tortured them, as complained by some of them. On the other hand, the other remaining families are yet to be traced. The families complained that they were assualted by the naxals who were outraged from the joint operation of Andhra-Odisha police that claimed lives of 24 naxals in October last year. The villagers were also given threats of punishment in the praja court trial if they inform police. Notably, the red rebels have killed two villagers after a praja court trial at Damagada on May 3.
