[3] The communists had gained a prominent mass base in the tribal regions of Srikakulam since the early 1950s under leadership of two school teachers: Vempatapu Satyanarayana and Adibhatla Kailasam.

[1][3] On 25 November 1968, 250 tribal peasants raided a land lords house snatching hoards of food grains, taking possession of belongings worth Rs.20,000 and burnt many documents.

On 20 December 1968, at Belereguda village guerrilla squads composed of 500 tribal peasants launched a surprise attack on 500 police officers, inflicting severe damage.

The major conflict zone was spread throughout the regions of upper Aviri area, Bothili hills, Sanjuvai, Vegulavada, Ithamanugadda in Srikakulam.

Youth leader Tamada Ganapathy, Panchadi Krishnamurthy from Boddapadu, Dr. Chaganti Bhaskar Rao from Parchoor, Prakasam district, Subbarao Panigrahi and six others killed by Andhra police between May 10 - Nov 3 1969.