NIA Detains Telangana People’s Front Leader Krishna In Komararam

KHAMMAM: Officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) reportedly detained Maoist sympathizer Nallamanu Krishna in Bhadradri Kotthagudem district late on Sunday night. Krishna, a prominent leader of Telangana People’s Front (Telangana Praja Front), a rights group with extremist ideology, was reported to be taking treatment in a local hospital over the last three days for some unspecified illness.

A team of NIA officials from Hyderabad specifically came down to Bhadradri Kotthagudem district for this purpose and took Krishna into custody, as reports say. Incidentally, Krishna’s detention comes within a week of his release from prison. The NIA is understood to have shifted the Maoist sympathizer be quizzing the Maoist sympathiser to an unknown location and interrogated him.

Interestingly, the local police had no prior information or inkling of the NIA’s move of detaining Krishna. Hailing from Komararam village in Yellendu mandal of Bhadradri Kotthagudem district, Krishna is known as a key activist espousing the extremist ideology in support of the Maoists. Incidentally, Krishna was among the group of activists who had played a key role in facilitating the historic talks in 2004 between the state government of then undivided Andhra Pradesh and the CPI(Maoist).

Krishna has been active in Hyderabad in carrying out the activities of the Telangana People’s Front. Due to chronic illness, he is said to have moved to his native village recently. Before detaining Krishna, the NIA team also reportedly conducted searches in the house of Krishna’s brother in Komararam. Recently, a top functionary of the Telangana Intellectuals Forum was detained and grilled by the NIA during which the leader was said to have shared some key information about Krishna. This is believed to have prompted the NIA to go on the trail of Krishna as well.

On reaching the hospital where Krishna was being treated, a DSP-ranked official of the NIA reportedly questioned Krishna’s daughter and other relatives. Later, they were handed a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) and informed them that Krishna was being taken into custody, according to his daughter.

However, keeping in view Krishna’s critical health condition, the NIA desisted from shifting him to Hyderabad and instead directed the local police to handle the matter.