AP hands over Rs 10 lakh compensation to Azad

BHUBANESWAR: Hardcore Maoist Dunna Keshava Rao, alias Azad, a key accused in the Swami Lakshamananda Saraswati murder, received Rs 10 lakh from the Andhra Pradesh Government here on Wednesday.A four-member team of AP Police handed over a demand draft to the rebel in the Special Jail where he has been lodged since June last year.Azad who had given himself up before the AP DGP last year was entitled to the compensation as per the surrender policy of the neighbouring State.K Ravi Kumar, an Inspector-ranked officer from AP Police, met Special Jail Superintendent Prakash Sahu and handed over the draft to Azad in the latter’s presence. The money will be in the prison officials’ custody till Azad decides who it should be deposited with. Azad’s mother, Dunna Kamalamma, is likely to receive the sum.Interestingly, Azad had recently staged a hunger strike in the jail demanding release and compensation from the Odisha Police claiming that he had surrendered, not arrested by the State Police.A military head of Basdhara dalam, Azad had surrendered before the Director-General of Police of Andhra Pradesh on May 18 last year and was released after questioning.It happened at a time when Odisha Police were hot on trail of the Maoist who is wanted in a host of violence in the State, including the Nayagarh Armoury attack and Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati murder in 2008.With AP Police not handing him over to their Odisha counterparts, Azad was  allegedly picked up from his village by Odisha Police a few days later for questioning and was arrested on June 1.His mother Kamalamma, who had written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik last month, had claimed that police had wanted to interrogate him and even assured him compensation but arrested him instead. She was also planning a dharna in front of the Special Jail here but was not allowed.A Maoist cadre since 1990s, Azad’s entry into Odisha was recorded during early 2000 after which he went full blast in his activities. All major Maoist operations starting from the Koraput district armoury loot in 2003 to Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati murder had his stamp. However, allegations about womanising and embezzlement of funds in the Maoist Party led to his demotion prompting him to surrender last year.