AP cops on warpath

The landmine blast triggered by Naxalites in Lothugedda, which killed nine policemen last week, is creating tremors not only in Visakhapatnam district but the entire state.

Several members of the sixth battalion of the Armed Reserve Police and their families have raised a banner of revolt against state police officials even as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party called for a strike in the north coastal Andhra region on Monday.

The strike was partial and passed off peacefully. However, on Saturday, when some sixth battalion staff and their families resorted to a road blockade, traffic came to a grinding halt at two busy junctions in Visakhapatnam city.

Vehicular traffic on the national highway connecting the city to Vizianagaram was also affected as the protestors blocked traffic at Mudasarlova junction.

The widows of the nine policemen and their children also organised a protest rally in the city. Their ire was directed against Chintapalle Deputy Superintendent of Police Vivekananda Swamy.

Swamy had allegedly sent the policemen to the Annavaram police station to fetch a copy of a first information report. The policemen were asked to go by a jeep -- considered risky in Naxalite-affected areas -- to cover a distance of just two km. What is worse, at a time when the Marxist-Leninist outlaws were on the rampage in the area, ''adequate security'' was not provided.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to suspend the DSP. The decision was apparently taken on the basis of a report submitted to the state government by Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) M A Basith.

Basith has been camping in Visakhapatnam since Friday's blast. His report seems to have indicted the DSP for sending the policemen by jeep, which goes against the government's instructions. The directive clearly states that vehicles should not be used for short distances in areas where reprisals from the outlawed People's War Group are expected.