Saturday, January 29 2005 20:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Amidst renewed naxalite violence in the State, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy today (Jan 29, 2005) asked the naxalites to lay down arms in order to create a congenial atmosphere for resuming talks but observed, "Both sides should maintain restraint".

"Unless and until naxalites surrender arms, it is not possible to have congenial atmosphere for talks. It is not a precondition (for talks)," he told reporters in New Delhi.

During his day-long visit to the capital, Reddy called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Shivraj Patil ahead of his visit to China from tomorrow (Jan 30, 2005).

The Chief Minister said that the Government wanted naxalites to surrender their arms and come for talks. Arms could only be carried by the police, he said adding that both sides should observe restraint.

Asked about the allegations of Telenganna Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Maoists about fake encounters, he said, "As long as individual and groups go about carrying weapons, the problem persists. Mahatma Gandhi encountered formidable British forces not with guns but with Satyagraha".

"The objective of talks is permanent peace and permanent peace can be established only with individual or groups not carrying weapons," he said, adding that after the first round of talks, some "unfortunate" incidents had taken place.

Referring to today's killing of four naxalites in an encounter with police near Bollapalli village in Warangal district, he said it was due to pressure put by naxalites for collecting money from beedi contractors.