Suspected Naxalites of the outlawed People's War group on Wednesday night blasted two unmanned communication towers of cellular phone companies -- Airtel and Idea Cellular -- near Batasingaram on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The blast was reportedly in retaliation to the killing of two top PW group leaders near Choutuppal on April 20.
Cyberabad Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy said the towers were located on hillocks between Kothaguda and Majidpur villages on National Highway No 9 in Hayatnagar police station limits.
Though the incident occurred between 2100-2130 IST, the police did not rush to the blast site, located close to the Nalgonda district border, suspecting a trap.
The villagers confirmed the blast to the police over phone.
Both companies said their networks were not disturbed.
In another incident, two naxalites belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Lennist) Janashakti group were killed in an encounter with the police in Warangal district on Wednesday morning.
A police spokesman said a police party on combing operations spotted a group of naxalites from Janashakti faction near Kamalapur crossroads in Bhoopalpally area and asked the ultras to surrender.
The naxalites, however, opened fire and two of them were killed in the ensuing exchange.
The slain naxalites have been identified as S Veera Reddy and Tirupathi.
The police recovered two rifles, several rounds of ammunition and extremist literature from the encounter site.
