NAXAL/ MAOISTS- 2010 - Indian Social Institute

NAXAL/ MAOISTS- 2010 

(January to December 2010) 

Naxals exposed major security loopholes (12) 

BERHAMPUR: In the year 2009, in a strategic manner the Maoists were able to extend their veil of terror 

and panic in districts of south Orissa. With their attacks on key locations Maoists exposed the glaring 

loopholes in the security of major infrastructures. The bauxite mines of NALCO at Panchpatmali hill top in 

Koraput district were targeted by the naxals on the night of April 12. Over 500 naxals had made this 

attack. Only 22 personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) dared them. Nine security 

personnel were killed while four naxals died in police firing. They also dared to take advantage of low 

security at Balimela hydel project in Malkangiri district and disrupted power generation thorough an attack 

and damage infrastructure of the hydel project on Dec 19 night. Maoists preferred to concentrate on 

Koraput district this year. Naryanpatna block became new ground for violent games of naxals during the 

year. Maoists took advantage of the tribal agitation in the area and took control of the region. Through 

road blockades they kept the area cut off from outside world for more than a week several times during 

past year. Eight personnel of the Orissa Special Striking Force (OSSF) and the driver of their vehicle were 

killed in a landmine blast while they were on their way to clear road blockades on June 18. On June 7 

night Maoists had taken control of Baipariguda town in Koraput district. They had blasted the police 

station and police barrack there. On the same night they attacked Ramgiri police outpost and Machhkund 

police station. Maoists showed their violent opposition to electoral process by murdering an independent 

candidate contesting from Malkangiri Assembly seat, Somnath Madkami. In Malkangiri district they 

targeted the guest house of the Essar group and the ore pipeline of the company. On Nov 13 three 

personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) died when their motorcade was targeted near 

MV66 village. The panic of Maoists prevailed in such a way in the district that Maoists would make the 

traffic standstill in the district through a few posters and pamphlets. Maoists got involved in more than 10 

violent missions in Kandhamal district. In Gajapati they blasted a police station at Paniganda in July. In 

February 14 security personnel in a vehicle escaped death due to mistiming of a landmine blast by 

naxals. Naxals continued to blast and ransack soft targets like mobile telephone communication towers 

and unguarded forest beat houses. Naxals faced some debacles in Rayagada districts due to a series of 

arrests and surrenders. (The Hindu 1/1/10) 

Maoists went on the rampage (12) 

MALKANGIRI: Maoist violence marked 2009 for the southern districts of Malkangiri, Rayagada, Koraput 

and Gajapati. The police firing on Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha (CMAS) activists Wadeka Singana and 

Nachika Andhru on November 20 in Narayanpatna of Koraput district created a flutter. Right from the 

beginning of the year, Maoist violence loomed large over the Southern Orissa districts. It all started from 

January 5 with the killing of businessman K. Kanta Rao of Almonda village under Bandhgaon block in 

Koraput district. Five days after the incident, businessman Bhogi Ramesh of Katulpetta village under 

Bandhugaon block was killed by the Red rebels. On January 18, the rebels killed eight OSAP jawans by 

triggering a landmine blast near Pallur in Koraput. On February 2, the Maoists started their second 

innings in Malkangiri by killing the Govindpalli-based contractor P.K.Swain. Besides, in an hour-long 

operation, the rebels blasted the forest beat house and the police outpost there. Again on March 29, the 

Maoists killed the Chitrakonda- based contractor Badrinarayan Patra on the suspicion of being a police 

informer. The Maoist activity intensified in Malkangiri ahead of the Assembly election. Former ZP 

president Nanda Kumar Kartami and Samrudha Odisha candidate Somnath Madkami were shot dead by 

the Red rebels and the election was held amid large-scale violence and booth-capturing in the Maoistinfested 

area in the district. In a show of strength, Maoists on April 12 attacked the Panchapatamali mine 

on the NALCO hilltop in Damanjodi in Koraput and 10 CISF personnel, four Maoist cadres including a 

woman were killed in the hour-long fierce fighting between both sides. On June 2, Siba Hareka Kambi 

Balasa of Borigi panchayat in Koraput was killed by the ultras. Daring the government and the police, 

armed Maoist rebels on June 6 blasted the Machhkund and Boipariguda police stations and Ramgiri 

outpost in Koraput. The violence continued with the Maoists blasting the rail line and mobile towers in 

Kakrigumma in Koraput district on June 24. Protesting lack of electricity and drinking water in remote 

Malkangiri villagers, the rebels on December 19 attacked the Balimela Power House and caused heavy 

damage to the machinery. The day before the Maoist-sponsored southern Orissa bandh on December 

29, Maoist blasted the forest guest house and BSNL exchange in Balimela. On the same night, they 

torched four OSRTC buses in Raipanka in Gajapati district. Amid all this, Sanjukta Pangi brought cheers 

for people of the region, particularly Koraput. She was selected to attend the J-8 summit, held parallel to

the G-8 summit in Rome, where she met world leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

(Express Buzz 1/1/10) 

Villagers in Orissa compelled to migrate due to Maoists' atrocities (12) 

Sundergarh, Jan.5 (ANI): A number of villagers are compelled to migrate to different places for safety 

following threats from Maoists in Orissa's Sundergarh district. About 3,000 villagers of the five villages, 

namely, Jharbeda, Mahubeda, Sanbalijor, Langlakata and Relhatu under Relhatu Gram Panchayat of 

Sundergarh district in Orissa have deserted their homes due to continuous harassment by the Maoists. 

The tribal villagers were antagonised by Maoists, who used to demand food from the poor villagers. 

Maoists used to force them to attend meetings and participate in creating road-blocks during the Bandhs 

called by the ultras. Naxalites had also directed the villagers that one youth from each household must 

join the outfit. Any voice of resentment against Maoists' diktat would only mean suffering for the villagers 

here. On Dec.9, Naxalites abducted four villagers and severely thrashed them before their release "to 

teach them a lesson".Continuing their ire, Naxals blasted the Gram Panchayat building at Relhatu on 

December 18. On Dec.23, they blasted three school buildings and a primary health centre. While the 

villagers remained panic-stricken, the Maoists continued their acts of terror. On January 3, a group of 

armed Maoist cadres blasted two school building complex and Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery Centre at 

Relhatu. They also looted over 50 quintals of rice stored in the school building for mid-day meal scheme 

for the poor tribal children. (ANI) (One India 5/1/10) 

Maoists raid forest office, loot cash (12) 

Kolkata: Suspected Maoists raided the forest beat office at Gapiballavpur block in West Midnapore district 

last night and looted cash from the employees. According to police, a group of 20-25 armed Maoists 

entered Kamlashole forest beat office, which is 10 km from the Orissa border. They ransacked the beat 

office and allegedly looted Rs 36,000 from four employees. The Maoists allegedly assaulted the forest 

guard. They also looted traditional weapons used by the tribals which were seized by the forest guards, 

police said. (Indian Express 7/1/10) 

Maoists kill tribal CPI-M leader (12) 

Bankura (WB), January 07, 2010: Suspected Maoists on Thursday shot dead a tribal CPI-M leader, 

alleging him to be a police informer at Barikul in Bankura district. "Maoists killed 34-year-old Haren Baske 

from close range after calling him to come out of his house. He died on the spot," Superintendent of 

Police, Vishal Garg, told PTI. Baske was a target of the ultras in Maoist-hit Barikul, he said. Nobody was 

arrested and CPI-M cadre held a a rally protesting Baske's killing, the police said. (Hindustan Times 

7/1/10) 

No aid for Naxals’ victims as Bengal sits on UAPA (12) 

Kolkata: Kin of over 150 dead can’t get Rs 3 lakh of central compensation unless state notifies the Central 

Act and bans Maoists Families of over 150 people killed in Maoist violence in the state in the past one 

year just cannot claim Rs 3 lakh in compensation they are entitled to get from the Centre because of 

West Bengal’s refusal to notify the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The administration of the 

three Naxal-hit districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura are unable to press the demand for 

compensation to be given to the kin of victims because a circular recently sent by the Centre to the state 

clearly says relief can be disbursed only if the state government bans the Maoists and their frontal outfits 

under the UAPA. Under the central scheme, for assistance to the victims of terrorist and communal 

violence, a sum of Rs 3 lakh can be provided to the next of kin of the persons who have died or have 

become permanently incapacitated. A senior home department official said, “We have received a circular 

from the Centre stating the kin of the persons killed in Naxal violence can be provided with the financial 

assistance. However, the state has to first notify the Maoists and their frontal organisations as terrorists 

and ban them under the UAPA. But the state government is not yet ready to do so for political 

compulsions.” The official said in the guidelines of the scheme, a terrorist attack is categorised as 

“militancy and insurgency-related violence (Ref. Act Section 15 UAPA, 1967, as amended in 2004). 

(Indian Express 10/1/10) 

‘Centre not serious on Maoist menace’ (12) 

KOLKATA: Slamming the Centre for not being “serious enough” in reacting to the situation in the three 

Maoist-affected districts of West Bengal despite repeated appeals by her, Trinamool Congress chief 

Mamata Banerjee on Saturday questioned the Centre’s “intention” to tackle the Maoist menace. Ms. 

Banerjee also served an “ultimatum” to the Maoists to abstain from killing people in the name of the

movement, failing which she said her party supporters would reclaim the Jangalmahal (the common 

name for the forested southwestern parts of the State) and give it back to the tribal people. Questioning 

the “utility” of the joint operation by the Central and State forces when people were being killed regularly, 

she reiterated her demand to deploy the Army in the three districts and initiate a “combing operation” to 

flush out Maoists. “I have repeatedly apprised the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Union 

Finance Minister about the serious situation there [in the Jangalmahal]. But nobody took any action. 

Being misled by the State, the Centre is supporting it,” Ms. Banerjee said at a press conference. Calling 

the Maoists “demons of Lalgarh” and “friends of the Communist Party of India (Marxist),” she accused the 

State government of providing the ultras with arms from the State armoury and at the same time “staging 

a drama” of trying to eradicate them. She also warned the Centre that it would not be able to shirk 

responsibility if the situation in the State worsened. Sending out a clear signal to the Centre, the State 

government and the Maoists to not misinterpret her party’s courteousness as cowardice or weakness, Ms. 

Banerjee said: “We need no support from either the Centre or the State government to face the Maoists, 

since appealing is of no use. The Centre might surrender to the CPI(M), but the Trinamool Congress will 

not…I will personally go to Lalgarh myself to see whether the power of guns is mightier than public 

support or not.” Speaking about the Maoists, she said: “Who is Kishen? Who is Bikash? Who is 

Chhatradhar? How could they become so powerful unless the State government supplied them arms and 

abundant foreign funds flowed in?...Who are the Maoists to punish corrupted people when they are the 

biggest corrupts ever? Their masks will be torn apart.” (The Hindu 10/1/10) 

Maoists issue diktat to thwart Mamata’s rally (12) 

The Maoists are ready to take on Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at 

their own turf in the Jungalmahal area and have issued a diktat to the locals against participating in the 

much-hyped Trinamool Congress rally in Jhargram. Even as the state government granted permission for 

holding the rally in Jhargram under special provisions where Section 144 has been imposed, it will be a 

challenge for Banerjee to conduct a successful rally in the Maoist den. The People’s Committee Against 

Police Atrocities (PCAPA) will boycott the rally on January 15. The PCAPA has already started a 

campaign against Banerjee and her party in the entire Jungalmahal and Lalgarh areas and asked 

villagers not to attend the rally. Banerjee is an opportunist politician. She is coming here only to get 

political mileage before the Assembly elections. She is demanding deployment of the Army against the 

poor tribals in Lalgarh and Jungalmahal. No one will attend her rally,” PCAPA leader Asit Mahato told The 

Indian Express. Mahato, who is leading the PCAPA after the arrest of tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato 

last year, also said: “Banerjee may hold the rally at Jhargram. But there will be nobody to listen to her, 

except her own party leaders. We don’t want to hear her. She did nothing to protect the tribal women in 

Lalgarh and Jhargram who are being tortured everyday by the jawans of the paramilitary forces.” 

Recently, Banerjee had slammed the Maoists saying that they had no moral right to kill people and even 

hold courts of law to punish innocent tribals. “Who are the Maoists to judge people and convict them and 

kill them,” she asked, adding that the Indian Constitution provides everything and it is only the Indian 

judiciary which is entitled to hear criminal proceedings against anyone and pass verdict. The Railway 

Minister had also challenged the Maoists and asked them to face her politically instead of carrying out 

subversive activities on railway tracks and killing innocent railway passengers. (Indian Express 13/1/10) 

Soren to discuss anti-Maoist operation with PM (12) 

Ranchi, Jan 18: Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren, who is in New Delhi, is likely to discuss with Prime 

Minister Manmohan Singh a proposed operation against Maoist guerrillas apart from development issues. 

'First there is a need to identify who the Maoist guerrillas are. We will talk many issues with the prime 

minister, including the proposed Maoist operation,' Soren had told reporters before leaving for New Delhi 

Sunday evening. When Soren took charge of Jharkhand for the third time Dec 30, he had said that the 

proposed offensive against Maoists, which had been labelled Green hunt operation, would not be 

launched without the state government's nod. 'We will talk to the central government. Such an operation 

cannot take place without the consent of the state government,' he had said. Soren had even invited the 

rebels for dialogue. Maoist leader Kisanji, through local media, had responded to the dialogue offer but 

demanded that no offensive be launched, arrested rebels be released and that security forces vacate 

schools. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had in November labelled the anti-Maoist operation a 

media invention and said that the central government was only assisting states in counter-insurgency 

measures. Police officials, however, have called on the government to have a clear-cut policy on tackling 

Maoists. 'The government should have clear-cut policy on Maoist operations. If the government wants 

dialogue, then it should move ahead with that policy, otherwise there should be an offensive against 

Maoists,' a police official involved in anti-Maoist operations said. 'Our chief minister's statement is a clear

indication that no operation should take place against Maoists. Maoists are killing security forces and they 

are termed our brothers,' said D.N. Singh, joint secretary of the Jharkhand police Association. Maoist 

violence is continuing in Jharkhand despite Soren having invited the rebels to a dialogue. The latest 

attack was Jan 15 when Maoists killed eight people, including seven policemen, by triggering a landmine 

blast in Gumla district. Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of Jharkhand's 24 districts. Nearly 1,600 people, 

including 345 security personnel, have been killed in Maoist violence since the creation of the state in 

November 2000. (Central Chronicle 18/1/10) 

BJD govt responsible for spurt in Maoist violence in Orissa (12) 

Bhubaneswar: Mounting a scathing attack on BJD government in Orissa, BJP today held it responsible 

for spurt in Maoist violence in the state due to its inaction and soft approach. "Violence by Maoists is 

growing and their menace is spreading to more areas because Naveen Patnaik government is not serious 

in fighting the red rebels," senior BJP leader Ashok Sahu and party MLA Karendra Majhi told reporters 

here. Stating that districts like Koraput, Malkangiri, Gajapati, Kandhamal and Rayagada were virtually 

controlled by Left Wing Extremists (LWEs), they said peace loving tribals in these areas want to help the 

police and administration in fighting Maoists, but the government is not acting. Claiming that foreign 

funds to the tune of Rs1200 crore came to Orissa during last one year, Sahu said bulk of the money was 

used in Maoist activities but there was no serious offensive by the state government against the ultras as 

it has been soft towards the outlaws. (DNA 24/1/10) 

Maoists target SOG men; four civilians killed (12) 

BHUBANESWAR/KORAPUT: The Left wing radicals left a trail of terror in South Orissa where they 

launched attacks at several places killing four civilians on Saturday, a day after heads of three Maoistaffected 

States met in Raipur. They also went on the rampage destroying public properties. A few 

kilometres away from the strife-torn Narayanpatna, a private passenger vehicle, carrying 10 Special 

Operations Group (SOG) jawans, was targeted. Four locals, including the driver, were killed in a landmine 

blast triggered by a remote-controlled device. Though the jawans had a miraculous escape, eight of them 

sustained injuries. The Commander jeep, in which they were travelling, was mangled under the impact of 

the blast which occurred at about 7.40 am. The securitymen had boarded the vehicle at Narayanpatna 

and were heading for Laxmipur when suspected Maoists carried out the attack. Two women, the owner of 

the Commander jeep and the driver, all of whom seated in the front row, were killed. The SOG personnel, 

who were in the rear rows, luckily escaped with injuries. “It was an act of frustration by the extremists who 

are now looking for soft targets. We have sent more units of SOG and CRPF to the area,” IG, Operations, 

Sanjib Marik, said. Only two days ago, the CPI(Maoist) had given a call for an economic blockade in the 

State on January 25 and Orissa bandh on the Republic Day protesting against the arrest of Subhashree 

Das, wife of top Maoist Sabyasachi Panda. The Andhra-Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee of the 

outfit is suspected to be behind this attack. The incident, which occurred at Palur, about 12 km from 

Narayanpatna, has now seen three such ghastly incidents in the last seven months. In June last year, a 

unit of the Orissa Special Strike Force was targeted and nine men had fallen victim. A few months later, a 

CRPF convoy was attacked at the same spot. However, it was not known why the SOG men, all in their 

fatigues, had chosen to travel in a private vehicle as their movement was clearly known to the Red rebels, 

which was evident from the attack planned with a precision. However, it was not Narayanpatna alone 

where the Maoists struck. A few hours earlier, the tehsil office was burnt down and a BSNL mobile phone 

tower was blasted at Machhkund by the radicals. The Govindpalli-Malkangiri and Lamtaput-Machhkund 

roads were blocked by felled trees. (Express Buzz 24/1/10) 

Maoists in J'khand agree to conditional talks (12) 

Ranchi, Jan 30: Stating that it would not lay down arms, banned CPI (Maoist) on Saturday said that it was 

open to talks with the Jharkhand government provided the ban over it was lifted along with the release of 

its cadres. The outfit's self-styled spokesman Gopalji said in a release, "Stop fake encounters, book 

policemen responsible for such encounters and compensate victims. Withdraw para-military forces from 

villages." The release demanded release of Maoist Politburo members Shushil Ray, Sheela and Amitabh 

Bagchi and others. Soon after Soren took over as Chief Minister for the third time on December 30, he 

had called on Maoists to abjure violence and come forward for talks. Questioning the sincerity of Soren's 

offer, the release said "Can Soren resist pressure by ally BJP and the Centre to launch attacks against 

us?" It said Soren and the Home Secretary had offered talks while stating that operations against Maoists 

would continue. "Which means, the government is offering talks with the might of the gun." Referring to 

the Chief Minister's meeting with Union Home minister P Chidambaram on January 28, the release 

claimed that Soren was under pressure to step up operations against Maoists. Gopalji also demanded 

that MoUs signed with Jindal Steel, Arcelor Mittal and Tata Steel be scrapped or reviewed. He also

demanded action against other naxal outfits like Tritiya Prastuti Samiti and Jharkhand Prastuti Committee 

and scrapping of the Village Defence Forces. The offer came ahead of chief ministers' meeting with 

Chidambaram in Kolkata on February 9. (Central Chronicle 1/2/10) 

Naxalism and angst of Jharkhand tribals (12) 

With pressure from major businesses to deliver on now-dusty memorandums of understanding and from 

Maoists--as they reconnoiter new areas and call in old debts--Jharkhand will witness more churn Root 

Cause | Sudeep Chakravarti. This is where a former state health minister, Bhanu Pratap Shahi, told 

media in early 2007 of a novel method of combating Maoist rebels—interchangeably known as Naxalites. 

One vasectomy in a “Naxalite-dominated” village would mean that many “potential comrades less”, the 

minister offered, in a situation of “many mouths to feed and little food to eat”. A state chief minister, 

Madhu Koda, received an official certificate from the Limca Book of Records, India’s version of the 

Guinness World Records, for becoming the first independent legislator to gain that position. He formed a 

government with four other legislators and the support of the United Progressive Alliance. Koda is now 

history, accused of using his tenure to amass a fortune along with some cronies and allies, mainly from 

concessions to mining. The newest chief minister, Shibu Soren, has this past fortnight troubled hawks for 

suggesting negotiations with Maoist rebels in the state. Leaks to media mentioned slowed police 

operations against Maoists. Such moves would, according to conventional wisdom, permit Maoists 

breathing room to regroup and gain ground. Failed peace talks in Andhra Pradesh in 2004, and overtures 

in Orissa, are held up as examples of what not to do. Soren, too, carries baggage, marked as he is by 

scandals such as money-for-votes during the premiership of P.V. Narasimha Rao; and the death of a 

once-trusted lieutenant. But it is important to understand Soren’s background with fellow travellers, as it 

were. Jharkhand is blessed with iron ore, manganese, coal, limestone, graphite, quartzite, asbestos, lead, 

zinc, copper, and some gold, among others. It supplies to the region electricity from thermal and 

hydroelectric plants. But there has always been a discrepancy between generating wealth and its 

application. The Jharkhand region received minimal development funds from undivided Bihar based on a 

time-honoured presumption: tribals live there, and they need little. Resettlement and rehabilitation issues 

were—and continue to remain—poor on delivery. The area’s displaced tribals were gradually organized 

by a tribal rights and right-to-statehood organization, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which also took on 

exploitation by a concert of contractors, moneylenders and public servants. Bihar’s response was to send 

a large team of armed police, which intimidated and arrested at will. To protest, an estimated 3,000 tribals 

gathered in September 1980 in Gua, a mining-belt town near Saranda forests to the state’s south, for a 

public meeting. There was an altercation with police. The police fired; the tribals fought back with bows 

and arrows. Three tribals and four policemen died; human rights activists place the number of tribal 

deaths at 100. Both groups took their wounded to Gua Mines Hospital, where the tribals were made to 

deposit their bows and arrows before the hospital took in their injured. Then the police opened fire on the 

now unarmed tribals, killing several more. The police, thereafter, went on a rampage in nearby villages, in 

much the same way as some of their colleagues in Chhattisgarh: looting and destroying homes; 

molesting and killing as much for revenge as suspicion of collusion with rebels. JMM leader Guruji— 

Soren—became a bulwark for key tribal leaders, who led movements in Saranda to prevent the illegal 

felling of trees such as sal and teak. As resentment peaked through the 1980s and 1990s, leaders sought 

allies with greater firepower: the Maoists—through the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), the key rebel 

entity in undivided Bihar. This alliance of expediency has since matured. Saranda is a Maoist area of 

operation and sanctuary. MCC has merged into the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the presiding 

conglomerate. Besides attacks against police and paramilitary, looting weaponry and imposing levies on 

small to big businesses to fund the rebellion, Maoists have also carried out spectacular strikes. For 

instance, they shot dead member of Parliament and bête noire Sunil Mahato and three others as they 

watched a football match at Baguria in early 2007. Leaders with deep roots, such as Soren, understand 

the dynamics of tribal aspiration and angst. Soren can, on a good day, still hold the power to bring 

disparate issues to the table for resolution of conflict. But tribal leadership is otherwise compromised, 

adding to the rot and ineptitude that have marked governance in Jharkhand since it attained statehood in 

2001. Even funds meant for modernization of police forces are known to have been appropriated to 

purchase sports utility vehicles for ministers. With pressure from major businesses to deliver on nowdusty 

memorandums of understanding and from Maoists—as they reconnoiter new areas and call in old 

debts—Jharkhand will witness more churn. Sudeep Chakravarti writes on issues related to conflict in 

South Asia. He is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. He writes a column alternate 

Thursdays on conflicts that directly affect business. (Mint 3/2/10) 

Maoist movement has no future: Woman insurgent (12)

Bastar Forest, Feb 4: After over five years in the underground, Poriyam Poje feels that the Maoist 

movement has no future and that its activists have turned into robbers and killers. The 27-year-old tribal 

woman says that she has no more charm for the insurgency that has been described as the biggest 

internal security threat to India. Having seen the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) 

from close quarters, Poje is ready to bid goodbye to the politics of terror. At a forested stretch near the 

Chhattisgarh-Andhra Pradesh border, Poje said that Maoists had drifted from their ideology and were 

acting like 'robbers, extortionists and murders'. 'I was fascinated by Maoist ideology initially when the 

'dadas' (their leaders) assured me that we will overthrow the Indian government. Now I can say that the 

movement has no future as the members and leaders are behaving like murderers, robbers and 

extortionists,' she said. Poje belongs to Muria tribe and operates a 12-bore gun. She is a member of Vijay 

Dalam, one of the party's armed units. The sprawling and forested Bastar region, home to many tribes, is 

a known Maoist stronghold and lies in Chhattisgarh's southern parts. 'Dadas are now acting in Bastar as 

robbers and only killing innocents and extorting money from traders and individuals. There is too much 

sexual exploitation of women cadres at Naxal (Maoist) camps,' she said, speaking in broken Hindi. Poje is 

at home in Gondi dialect. 'In the past five years I have witnessed several incidents of forced sex. People 

have also misbehaved with me several times. They have killed minor boys and girls brutally when their 

parents refused to hand over them for the Naxalite movement. That's why I have decided to return to the 

mainstream of society rather than being engaged in mindless killings.' Poje, who was accompanied by a 

handful of male guerrillas when she spoke to reporters, said it was some five years ago when she was 

taken away by Maoists forcibly from her house. That was when the Maoists were forcing every family to 

part with one member each for the cause. In just one year, she learnt to fire from a 12 bore gun. 'I had no 

fear of the police. I was involved in at least six major attacks in Bastar. But now I have firmed up my mind 

to return to my village as there is no end to looting and violence. 'I feel that the Maoists have no ideology. 

There is too much forced sex and exploitation of women colleagues at the camps,' said Poje, who is now 

looking for a man to marry. 'Though the 'dadas' claim their base is growing, actually in the past one year 

or so they have come under intense police pressure. They are running from one forest area to another. 

Even their area of influence is shrinking day by day,' she said.(Central Chronicle 5/2/10) 

Jailed Naxals take anti-Patil stand over demand for Vidarbha (12) 

NAGPUR: The Nagpur Central Jail inmates allegedly linked to the Naxal movement have condemned 

home minister RR Patil's stand against pro-Vidarbha leaders, who have sought support from the rebel 

movement to strengthen their campaign for a separate state. The jailed Naxalites have issued a press 

communique against the minister's stance, which had dampened the spirit of the pro-Vidarbha movement 

that has been on the upswing in the region recently. Former MP Jambuwantrao Dhote had said that he is 

open to support from Naxalites to realise his dream of a separate state. Patil had in turn said that the 

state would initiate action against leaders and opinion-makers who try to rope in the antinational elements 

into the separate statehood movement. Calling it an undue threat to intimidate the leaders, the Naxals - 

including Ashok Reddy, Arun Ferreira, Sridhar Srinivasan and Voghe Chandramouli - have appealed to 

citizens to condemn Patil's stand and attempt to morally discourage the opinion-makers. Accusing the 

influential leaders based in Mumbai and western Maharashtra of strangling the aspirations of Vidarbha's 

population, the Naxals have justified the demand for a separate state, saying that it has the potential to 

trigger real development of this region. The Naxals have opined that statehood for Vidarbha can be 

achieved with the united efforts and struggle of all 'the oppressed and toiling masses of Vidarbha i.e. 

workers, peasants, Dalits, tribals, women, students, intellectuals, etc'. They have also claimed that 

Naxalite movement in the state is one such movement of the masses, which has fought 

'uncompromisingly' for the just rights of the oppressed and backward tribals for the last three decades. 

Most importantly, the Naxals hinted that the demand for a separate state can be achieved only by a 

militant people's movement and not through negotiations. While the Naxalites have fired a salvo from 

behind bars, the jail authorities seem clueless about the origin of this letter. VD Burkule, superintendent of 

police of central jail, said that it is not possible to write antigovernment or inflammatory letters from inside 

the prison. "These Naxalites meet their people and family members when they attend the court. It is 

difficult for jail authorities to monitor interactions or activities that take place in such meetings in the court 

premises. Moreover, certain jailed Naxalite have also been freed recently. Such freed Naxalites too can 

be involved in writing letters in the name of their fellow members," said Burkule, adding that no letters can 

be sent from the jail without being censored. (Times of India 6/2/10) 

Chidambaram to Maoists: we'll talk but stop violence (12) 

IANS | Kolkata/Ranchi/Patna: As Maoists again blasted train tracks in Bihar and Jharkhand during their 

72-hour shutdown, the Government on Tuesday warned that operations against the guerrillas would 

continue but also offered talks if the violence stopped. After a two-hour meeting with the governments of

Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, Home Minister P. Chidambaram claimed that intra-state 

operations against the ultras had made significant progress. "My appeal to Naxals (as the Maoists are 

also known) is if you abjure violence, that is if you call a halt to violence, we are not asking you do 

anything more, we are prepared to talk to you on any matter that is of concern," Chidambaram said in 

Kolkata as the shutdown to protest the proposed operation against Maoists drew to an end. Over the last 

three days, Maoists have disrupted rail and road traffic, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of trains 

with repair work under way in vital connecting points of Bihar and Jharkhand. "Unfortunately, past appeals 

have been spurned. So we were obliged to continue the operations," Chidambaram said, flanked by West 

Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his Orissa counterpart Naveen Patnaik. Apart from 

the two chief ministers, deputy chief ministers of Jharkhand Raghuvar Das and Sudesh Mahto and top 

officials of Bihar took part in the parleys at the state secretariat Writers' Buildings where the progress of 

the security operations were reviewed and plans for inter-state offensives chalked out. This is 

Chidambaram's second meeting with state chief ministers in the last month to work out an action plan. 

The last meeting held in Raipur in January with officials of five state governments examined escape 

routes of the rebels between Orissa and Jharkhand and deployment strategy of joint forces on the 

borders of Maoist-hit states. Chidambaram said he was not claiming that the operations had made 

"remarkable achievements" but progress had been "slow and steady". To buttress his point, the home 

minister cited the arrest of some key leaders of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist and 

deployment of more forces in the affected areas. "The progress is slow and steady. You cannot measure 

it like a cricket match score board. In fact considerable progress has been made... We will continue to 

make progress." As Chidambaram firmed up strategy, Maoist rebels kept the violence going in Jharkhand 

as well as neighbouring Bihar. In Jharkhand, they blew up blew up railway tracks in two places in Giridih 

district, about 190 km from the state capital Ranchi. Railway authorities cancelled seven trains and six 

trains were diverted. More than 3,000 buses in Jharkhand were stranded and no long route buses were 

operational. In Bihar, Maoists struck in Jamui district by blasting a track near Narganjo station, about 170 

km from Patna. Narganjo is situated on the Kiul-Howrah rail route of East Central Railway. At the internal 

security conclave on Sunday, Chidambaram specifically mentioned that all the six-affected states, 

including the Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, had endorsed the government's 

action plan on the operations. "There was not a single discordant note. All chief ministers are on board," 

he said. Left wing extremists continue to target vital installations and kill innocent civilians in Bihar, 

Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal, claiming 1,125 deaths in 2009. (Pioneer 

9/2/10) 

Govt plans inroads into Naxal-hit areas (12) 

New Delhi: For the first time, the Centre has decided to take infrastructure development to core Naxaldominated 

areas by expediting five major highway projects that were to be taken up only three years from 

now. After an urgent letter from the Chhattisgarh Government, the Ministry of Road Transport and 

Highways (MoRTH) decided to expedite these projects. Assured of security cover by the State for 

contractors, the Ministry took special clearance for these five highway projects that were not in the 

pipeline till 2013. After consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), MoRTH has divided 

highways under the “Road connectivity project in areas affected by Left-wing extremism” into three 

categories on the basis of Naxal activity. Category 1 roads are in areas where the contractor would not 

need much police protection. Category 2 roads would need some police intervention and local intelligence 

support. According to the MHA assessment, Category 3 roads would need area domination by police or 

specially-trained commandos before the contractor can take up work there. Most of the roads under the 

last category are in Chhattisgarh. The project entails building 5,000 km of two-lane highways through 

Naxal-affected areas. Of the 5,000 km, about 1,210 km fall in Category 3. About 1,050 km of Category 3 

roads are in Chhattisgarh and 160 km in Orissa, sources said. All the five major highway projects cleared 

to be taken up on an urgent basis fall in Category 3. At present, the Ministry is taking up highway projects 

only in Category 1. A senior official said, “These projects have in a way jumped the queue because of the 

State Government’s request for expediting works and owing to its assurance of providing security.” 

Sources said the Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary wrote to MoRTH Secretary Brahm Dutt and apprised him 

of the ground situation. He wrote that the Government had constituted special commando teams to flush 

out Naxals from their core territory. Since the State already has adequate forces in place, the Chief 

Secretary said, the Chhattisgarh Government wanted to follow a two-pronged approach - flush out the 

Naxals and take development to the terror-stricken people. Assured of safety for its contractors, MoRTH 

has expedited the projects and asked State public works department (PWD) to float tenders. The State 

Government would vacate small villages and take the entire area under its control before contractors can 

start working there. (Pioneer 15/2/10)

319 Naxals surrendered in four years in Maharashtra (12) 

NAGPUR: As many as 319 Naxalites have laid down their arms before authorities in the Naxal-infested 

Gadchiroli district in eastern part of Maharashtra, official sources have said. "The Maharashtra 

government, after examining Naxal surrender policies of other affected states, also came out with a 

identical scheme on August 29, 2005 and this has helped both the Naxals and the police in implementing 

it. The response has been good so far," additional district superintendent of police, Manoj Sharma told 

PTI. He said the state government has given periodical extension to the scheme. "It has certainly helped 

the misguided poor tribals who took to arms struggle to avail an opportunity to give up violence and 

isolated life and miserable living conditions." The scheme has also helped the police to provide a chance 

for those Naxals who want to return to main stream and spend rest of the life under security cover and 

enjoy the freedom, Sharma said. Giving details of surrendered Naxalites, Sharma said one sub zonal 

committee member is the top Naxal leader followed by six dalam commanders and nine deputy dalam 

commanders. Sharma said, In Naxal movement, the Area Rakshak Dal and Gram Rakshak Dal (ARD and 

GRD) also play an important role since they are like second rung leaders and provide logistics and 

communication also. As many as 200 ARD and GRD have also surrendered during this period. There are 

10 couples who are a part of 319 surrendered Naxalites during the last four years. Maharashtra 

govenment has so far extended financial assistance to the tune of Rs 1.38 crore and another Rs 30.20 

lakh from the centrally sponsored Security Related Expenditure (SRE), Sharma said. As per the laid down 

scheme, whenever Naxals surrender, they are produced before a committee headed by district collector 

which include superintendent of police and other officials to accept their surrender and accordingly the 

cash reward is decided as per their rank and involvement in offences. Police have recovered from them 

81 rifles, mostly 303 and self loading, 110 cartridges, one hand grenade and other explosives besides 

Naxal printed materials about their ideology, he said. Six Naxals had surrendered during the Republic 

Day Parade in Gadchiroli where Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil unfurled the tri-colour. He 

welcomed them into the main stream.. (DNA 16/2/10) 

Women maoists play key role in Shilda attack (12) 

West Bengal: The women power among Maoists came to the fore once again as it played a key role in 

executing the attack on Eastern Front Rifles camp here last night. If four months ago a Maoist squad, led 

by a woman, had kidnapped policeman Atindranath Dutta on October 20, in the latest assault, the women 

not only did the recce but it was a woman from Jharkhand who had led an entire platoon that attacked the 

Shilda camp of the EFR housed in the premises of a Primary Health Centre. According to a top level 

district police source, three women, disguised as tribal dancers, came to the spot in the morning, danced 

and collected money from shop-owners and local businessmen. "They entered the camp pleading they 

didn't have anything to eat and so we offered them food and after eating them they went away," an injured 

EFR jawan being treated at Jhargram sub-divisional hospital told PTI on condition of anonymity. They left 

the place at around 11 in the morning and the deadly attack took place at 4. 45 in the evening resulting in 

24 jawans killed, a district police source said. According to district intelligence sources, the three women 

did the final recce before launching the attack. A man was there but he waited nearby at a road 

intersection for the women to come back. "According to information available, the lady who looked hardly 

32 years old came from Jharkhand and was perhaps new in the area," a senior district police officer said. 

Asked if known Maoist commandos were on the strike, the officer said "commanders like Sasadhar 

Mahato and Jagori Baske were there in the platoon but they didn't lead the team." Sasadhar is the brother 

of Chattradhar Mahato - the PCPA leader arrested by the police and Jagori Baske - the lady who had led 

the attack at Sankrail in West Midnapore district police station and abducted Atindranath Dutta who was 

later released. The three roads - the State Highway nine which goes from Jhargram to Shilda, the road 

from Bankura and the road that goes from Shilda to Midnapur via Naranpur - were all chock-a-block with 

mines. "The mines were planted mainly at Fulkusuma, Malabati and Naranpur and roads were blocked by 

felled trees and naturally the police had to tread carefully through the kutcha road, leaving the metal road. 

So, it took at least four hours to reach the spot. The Maoists had enough time to flee," the officer said. 

"The Maoists had enough information about the jawans and the camp because they initially destroyed 13 

out of 20 smaller camps inside by throwing mortars, and petrol bombs," the officer said. "Then they 

entered the camp through all the three gates and fired at the jawans from all sides leaving the inmates not 

even a slightest opportunity to defend themselves," the officer said. (DNA 16/2/10) 

Maoist violence reverberates in Supreme Court (12) 

New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) shared the Centre’s concern on Tuesday regarding the growing 

Maoist menace, but refused relief to Chhattisgarh Police, accused of killing tribals. Twelve tribals had 

gone missing and were suspected to have been massacred by police after they filed a plea seeking a CBI 

probe into the killing of 10 people during an anti-Maoist operation. After the Raman Singh government

produced six of the “missing” tribals, SC had ordered a Delhi judge on Monday to record their statements. 

On Tuesday, a bench of justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar directed the SC registry to give copies 

of the statements to the tribals’ counsel Colin Gonsalves and the central and the state governments. 

Gonsalves said the statements confirmed the massacre but did not apportion responsibility. During the 

hearing, attorney general Goolam E Vahanvati referred to home minister P Chidambaram’s statement 

that the government was ready to talk to Maoists, provided they abjured violence. “And the answer we 

have got yesterday [Monday] from Bengal,” Vahanvati regretted, referring to the killing of securitymen in 

West Midnapore. When lawyer Prashant Bhushan pointed out human rights violations by state agencies 

in their fight against Maoists in Chhattisgarh, solicitor general Gopal Subramanium intervened to say 

“nobody wanted to go [to fight Maoists] with a death band on the forehead. We do not want to perpetuate 

a situation like a civil war”. The judges pacified the solicitors, saying, “We are not on anything like war, but 

for solving the problem (sic).” Subramanium continued: “The fight against naxals is not based on any 

political line and the Centre and the Chhattisgarh government are equally concerned about human rights.” 

To this, the judges said though the court did not go by media reports, some reports were “really 

disturbing”. (DNA 17/2/10) 

With locals on their side, Maoists now striking at will (12) 

JHARGRAM/SILDA: Five attacks on security forces in six months. Thirty-two jawans killed, scores 

injured, arms looted, police patrols cowed. On the flip side, three crackdowns on Maoist dens. Just three 

suspected guerrillas killed, 190 arrested — 23 of them released to secure the freedom of abducted 

Sankrail OC Atindranath Dutta. It’s clear how the scales are tipped in the tussle between Maoists and 

security forces in the tribal belt of Jangalmahal. The side that has the locals’ support has the edge. The 

Maoists started winning one battle after another after November 2008, when the People’s Committee 

against Police Atrocities (PCPA) was formed. In January 2009, they started a police boycott in Lalgarh. 

With this began a systematic elimination of police informers. When the killing spree began, there were 

just 36 policemen in Lalgarh to police 300,000 people in 300 villages. It was the local information network 

that helped police in this impossible task. The guerrillas started targeting this system. Now, police stations 

are under lock-and-key and policemen don’t dare to venture out after dark even if there is a murder. The 

killings created a fear psychosis among the villagers, who retreated into a shell, refusing to share 

information with police. Occasional torture of villagers by police also turned people away from the 

lawkeepers. This strategy helped Maoists create a “liberated zone”, which gradually spread beyond West 

Midnapore, to Purulia and Bankura. The guerrillas also wooed villagers by digging wells, building roads 

and setting up health centres in this underdeveloped region. This helped them build a strong information 

system of their own that the forces do not have at the moment. The forces take a share of the blame, as 

well. After nine months in the region, they are still to come to grips with the terrain. They are not aware of 

the village paths that crisscross jungles. Till the first week of February, they didn’t even venture into the 

jungles, say sources, sticking to the roads for their 10 am to 3 pm patrols. In the past two weeks, they 

have started going into forests. A CRPF jawan said the situation is getting worse. “We marched into Silda 

last night around 8.30 pm. Since then till this afternoon we couldn’t even get water to drink. This is how 

we have been working every day,” he said. But there are other equally worrisome questions that remain 

unanswered. Why were most of the jawans without arms? Why were the men and women who lurked in 

the area for more than an hour not challenged? Some sources claim that Kishenji himself had been 

keeping watch on the Silda camp for two months. According to a CID official, it is high time the forces 

went for an “intelligence-backed guerrilla operation”. “You can beat guerrillas by fighting like a guerrilla. 

It’s an ideal situation for Cobra operation under the direct command and control of CRPF.” (Times of India 

17/2/10) 

Karnataka Naxal leader killed in police encounter (12) 

Karkala (Karnataka), March 1 : The Anti Naxal Force (ANF) gunned down a wanted Naxal leader Vasant 

Goudlu in an encounter near Muniyal in Karnataka's Udupi district on Monday evening. The ANF also 

believes that another wanted Naxal leader Vikram Goudlu and Vasant's sister Sundari managed to flee 

from the sight. On a tip-off police surrounded three Naxals in Maroli Jaddu forest area in Karkala taluk of 

the district. An ANF personnel was also injured in the encounter. Police recovered one self-loading rifle 

(SLR), three magazines and a handbag from the sight. The ANF and Udupi Police have launched a joint 

search operation in the forest area to capture the absconding Naxals. Vasant, a Malekudiya tribal hailed 

from Kutlur village in the Kuduremukh National Park area. The 30-year-old, who was an active member of 

the Karnataka Vimochana Ranga in 1990s, later went underground and became active in the Naxal 

movement. He was a staunch follower of the Maoist ideologue Saket Rajan and a member of the Maoist's 

Karavali Area Committee. Vasant's name figured in the 2003 Idu encounter and also in the bomb attack

on police party in Karkala Taluk in 2005. Earlier in May 2009, the Karnataka Police had declared an 

award of Rs five lakh for any information on Vasant. (New Kerala 1/3/10) 

Chidambaram says Maoist truce offer bizarre (12) 

New Delhi, March 02, 2010: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Maoist guerrillas' truce 

offer was "somewhat bizarre" because the Leftist insurgents continued to indulge in violence hours after 

offering the ceasefire. "I just described the so-called offer of the CPI-Maoist as bizarre. That is because, 

barely three hours after the so-called offer, the CPI-Maoist attacked a joint patrol party of the West Bengal 

police and the CRPF in Lalgarh," Chidambaram told reporters about Maoist guerrilla leader Kishenji's 

ceasefire offer for 72 days. Kishenji, a politburo member of the outlawed Communist Party of India (CPI)- 

Maoist, last Monday asked the state and central governments to stop anti-insurgency operations from 

Feb 25 to May 7 and "concentrate on development of tribal areas which will be reciprocated by 

Maoists".The government rejected the offer, and instead the home minister asked the guerrilla leader to 

abjure violence and come for talks "without ifs and buts". Presenting the monthly report of his ministry 

before the media, the home minister recalled three people were killed in that shootout. "In the seven days 

since then (the offer), there have been 18 significant acts of violence in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, 

Orissa and West Bengal. These include landmine blasts, killing of civilians alleged to be police informers, 

attack on police parties, ambushing of trucks and other vehicles, and blasting of school buildings. I may 

point out that 11 lives have been lost," he said. The home minister said he had earlier offered to facilitate 

talks with the banned CPI-Maoist provided the insurgents abjured violence. "There was no meaningful 

response to that offer. Nevertheless, Feb 23 (a day after Kishenji's offer), I responded that if the CPI- 

Maoist made a short, simple and unconditional statement that they would abjure violence, the 

government would be prepared to hold talks with them. I have received no response to my statement," 

Chidambaram said. While Chidambaram gave a fax number for the Maoists to issue their "short, simple" 

statement abjuring violence, Kishenji gave through a media conference a cell number on which he 

wanted the government to contact him with details of when and where to hold the talks. The half-hearted 

initiative collapsed. (Hindustan Times 2/3/10) 

Govt may consider Naxal truce offer, if ceasefire for 72 hrs (12) 

New Delhi: A day after Home Minister P Chidamabaram termed Maoist leader Kishenji's truce offer as 

"bizarre", the government extended an olive branch to the Left Wing extremists asking them to ensure 

ceasefire for 72 hours to facilitate talks. Top government officials have said Kishenji's offer for talks may 

be considered if he could ensure complete ceasefire for 72 hours. Home Minister P Chidamabaram had 

termed the truce offer by the Maoist leader as "bizarre" while underlining double standards adopted by the 

Left Wing extremists. In six days after Kishenji came with the offer for talks, Maoists have carried out 18 

serious attacks on security forces and civilians killing 11 including an incident of neck- slitting of a police 

official in West Bengal. Chidamabaram said he had offered to facilitate talks with the CPI-Maoist provided 

they abjured violence. "There was no meaningful response to that offer. Nevertheless, on February 23 I 

responded that if the CPI-Maoist made a short, simple and unconditional statement that they would abjure 

violence, government would be prepared to hold talks with them. I have received no response to my 

statement," he had said. (Pioneer 4/3/10) 

Nabbed Maoist was operating in West Bengal, focusing on Nandigram (12) 

Kolkata: Top Maoist leader, Venkateshwar Reddy alias Telugu Dipak, who was arrested by West Bengal 

Police’s criminal investigation department (CID) on Tuesday, was the key man behind prolonged land war 

at Nandigram in East Midnapore district that went on for the entire 2007. “Dipak’s focus was Nandigram 

and Khejuri during those violent days. Later he also concentrated in organising Maoist network in 

Kolkata,” additional director general, CID, Raj Kanojia said here on Wednesday, The arrested Maoist 

leader was remanded to 14 days in police custody by a court on Wednesday. He has been charged with 

several cases of murder, waging war against the country and those under the Arms Act among others. 

Dipak is a mechanical engineer and was in charge of all the city units of the Communist Party of India- 

Maoist (CPI-M), police said. Reddy was an explosives expert and very close to top Maoist leader 

Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji. Kanojia said Dipak is also suspected to have masterminded the attack on 

Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) jawans at Shilda. (DNA 4/3/2010) 

The salwa judum of Bengal (12) 

There are four things we live in fear of — police, elephants, the Maoists and the harmath,” said Rukmini in 

a village near Lalgarh in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district. “They are thieves.” “They even steal 

eggs,” says another woman listening in. But they are not harmless pranksters. The harmath is the armed 

militia of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist). They loot, plunder, rape and assault villagers and

villages suspected of having other political affiliations. In 2008, in Nandigram, before the gram panchayat 

elections, they snatched away the voter identification of people in Nandigram. At least 10 to 15 people 

were admitted in the local hospital, in “critically injured condition”, reported The Times of India. In Bankura 

district, Baksi village was emptied of 70 per cent of its residents by a joint force of police and the harmath. 

“They misbehave with the women and burn our food stocks,” says Satyan Hansda. “The police do 

nothing.” The intimidation was to stop all groupings they suspected of political ambitions. “The PCPA 

does not function here because most of its members were driven away. They keep beating us saying that 

we are Maoists. We have not even seen a Maoist in our village.” A senior CPM leader accepts, on 

condition of anonymity, that the party maintains an armed group of “volunteers”. “There is dadaism. Not 

everyone in the party favours force to regain lost areas and there is factionalism within the party over 

this.” He adds after a while, “but every party has an armed wing, even the Trinamool Congress.” The term 

harmath came into the Bengali lexicon with the Portugese raiders who came in the 15th century. “They 

travelled in groups and were ruthless.” The word had not been used in the local vocabulary for years but it 

regained popularity during the Nandigram struggle, when people started calling the CPM goons by this 

name. “It could be the people who were attacked themselves, it could be the intelligentsia who were 

commenting on it, nobody knows for sure how the word became popular again. But today, it is a term 

used to refer to CPM goons,” says Jagabandhu Adikhari of the Association of People for Democratic 

Rights (APDR). These types of armed groups have been part of the CPM from the Eighties, according to 

Adhikari. “But the concentration of the harmath group has definitely increased in the past few years.” “The 

primary task of this group is to make sure that no other political party or organisation can function in an 

area,” says Pratyut Ghosh, the Trinamool Congress District Secretary of the West Midnapore region. And 

to do this, they do not look for people who are ideologically inclined. They simply pay people with criminal 

records, according to Adhikari. “Sometimes they coerce people with criminal records to work for them or 

risk being arrested again.” Their job could also be to spy on their own neighbours. “Harmath sometimes 

cover their faces and attack, because they are neighbours or from neighbouring villages,” says Ashish 

Mahato, spokesperson of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities. Harmath are hired by giving a 

lump sum — two to four lakh rupees — to a family and then they are promised an amount at regular 

intervals. “If a harmath runs a successful campaign (which means to get rid of, chase away or silence 

people who have other political leanings) then he is rewarded with a few lakhs again. A promise is made 

that if the harmath is killed in campaign, the family will be taken care of. But in the cases where we have 

heard, that support is discontinued in a few months.” In every village, either the harmath accompany the 

police or they follow the police. “The harmath are even trained by the police,” says Adhikari. How are 

they armed? “Every party has arms,” says the CPM leader. “The ruling party keeps arms, so does the 

opposition.” According to the TMC secretary, ‘they get their arms from Bihar and Pune.” The funding is 

done through a teacher’s network. “The government appoints teachers. If they want the posting, they 

need to pledge a portion of the salary to the funding of this group,” says Congress district secretary of 

West Midnapore, Nirmal Ghosh. Adhikari says the relationship is a bit more complex. In 2008, teachers 

got an unexpected raise of a few thousands. “Teachers were expected to give them a portion of the 

arrears. When one teacher in Chandrakona refused, he was accosted and threatened. Finally he had to 

give the Rs 10,000 they demanded of him.” The contribution can vary between Rs 5,000 and Rs 20,000, 

according to Adhikari. The CPM leader is not happy with the compromises the party has made over the 

years. “When we started, we had a list of do’s and don’ts. Over the past 32 years as the ruling party, we 

seem to be doing more of the dont’s.” People like him want the party to lose this time around so that they 

can rework internally and improve it, says his friend laughing. The leader does not argue.(Express Buzz 

7/3/10) 

Maoists turning Ahmedabad-Mumbai stretch into 'Red Corridor'? (12) 

SURAT: Plans are afoot for quite some time now to turn the Ahmedabad-Mumbai stretch into a ‘Red 

Corridor' with bases of Maoists in several towns along the route and headquarters in Surat. This startling 

revelation was made by Surya Devra Prabhakar, a Maoist, during his interrogation by Mumbai ATS. The 

information has been passed on to Gujarat police following which police swung into action and lodged a 

complaint highlighting Naxal operations in the tribal region. The complaint has been lodged under various 

sections of criminal conspiracy, sedition and promoting enmity between groups. When Prabhakar was 

arrested in January 15 from Suvarna region in Maharashtra the Mumbai ATS was not aware how big a 

fish they have netted. But as soon as Prabhakar started spilling the beans police realised that he is 

among the top leaders of Naxal movement in Maharashtra and adjoining states. Police recovered around 

Rs 10 lakh from Prabhakar, "which was portion of total Rs 25 lakh collected from Surat during last few 

years," said a senior police official. Prabhakar is said to have informed the Mumbai ATS that the blue print 

of making the stretch from Ahmedabad to Mumbai a _Red Corridor' was planned almost 10 years ago 

and Surat has been chosen as HQ because of its huge migrant population _ around 20 lakh from Naxal

affected states _ Maharashtra, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Bihar -- informed a senior police official. Vicinity 

to tribal belt of south Gujarat is also a reason for choosing Surat which is connected to huge tribal region 

of Maharashtra and MP. "To speed up the movement in state and to create a base in Gujarat Prabhakar 

had stayed in the city for six years," said a senior police official. City and rural police have now launched 

an operation to collect details related to people connected to Prabhakar, who hails from Warangal district 

of Andhra Pradesh, during his stay in Surat. Prabhakar was in city between 2000 and 2006 and after that 

he used to visit the city frequently. (Times of India 9/3/10) 

'Maoists had no intention of killing West Bengal chief minister in 2008' (12) 

"If we had the intention to kill Bhattacharjee we could have killed him. We could have used a directional 

mine to snap the high tension line to fall on his convoy," top Maoist leader Venkateshwar Reddy alias 

Telugu Dipak, who was arrested on March 2 by the state CID, had told interrogators. A landmine 

exploded on the convoy of chief minister and two union ministers Paswan and Jitin Prasada at Salboni in 

West Midnapore district on November 2, 2008. "We wanted to police to make a mistake and crack down 

on the tribals, which they did. We were successful in capitalising on it to create a base for ourselves. The 

attack on the chief minister's convoy was a milestone in the Maoist movement in West Bengal." The CID 

officer, who interrogated the Maoist leader, said that the Lalgarh movement by tribals which started with 

the blast became an issue nationwide and compelled the the central government to rethink about 

Maoists. Dipak, who is an explosive expert, had also confessed that he had learnt to make landmines 

from a faction of LTTE in Tamil Nadu. Between 1987 and 1995, Dipak was sent to Tamil Nadu by the 

Maoist top brass for political grooming, the officer said. He stayed in Tamil Nadu for two years and came 

in touch with the LTTE group which was active in that region at that time and learnt the nitty-gritties of 

making landmines, he said. Later Dipak developed the lethal directional landmine. A close aide of Maoist 

Politburo member Kishanji alias Koteswar Rao, Dipak is a member of the State Military Commission, 

West Bengal chapter, and in-charge of the armed operations in Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand.(DNA 

11/3/2010) 

Maoists may create trouble during bandh, Martyr’s Day (6) 

NAGPUR/CHANDRAPUR: The Maoists are likely to keep the security forces on their toes during the 48hour 

bandh called on the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh on March 23. The Maoists are protesting the 

ongoing operations against them while observing the Martyrs Day. Felling trees and blocking traffic in 

different parts of their stronghold Gadchiroli, the Maoists have already made their intentions clear on the 

first day of the bandh on Monday. The rebels in Maharashtra are likely to enforce the bandh in Gadchiroli, 

Gondia and Chandrapur as a part of their two-day shut down announced in seven states by CPI (Maoists) 

politburo member Kishenji. The rebels have also cited the atrocities against villagers and tribal by the 

central paramilitary forces as a reason for the strike. Gadchiroli SP S Jayakumar claimed that security 

forces have been already alerted to keep vigil and intensify patrolling. “We are expecting that they 

(Maoists) might try to harass the local people and create problems for them. The necessary steps are 

being taken,” said Jayakumar adding that further strategies cannot be divulged for security reasons. “The 

security forces shall try to engage the rebels and foil their attempts,” said Jayakumar. Apart from the 

operation, Gadchiroli police is also engaged in the ongoing recruitment drive, which has received a huge 

response from the district despite strong Naxal opposition. On Saturday night, Naxals are learnt to have 

felled trees and also damaged a portion of the road between Dhanora and Murumgaon. Police said that 

traffic was being blocked by wooden logs, which the villagers removed in the morning to open the roads. 

The traffic flow was unhindered on the sensitive stretch till evening. Dhanora, being close to Chhattisgarh 

border, has strong Maoist influence and is considered sensitive during heightened Maoist activity. The 

police lost 34 personnel in Dhanora tehsil in 2009. Balsingh Rajput, subdivisional police officer of 

Dhanora, said that cops shall conduct night operation in the areas to counter the Maoists subversive 

attempts under the cover of the night. “Both day and night operations have been intensified with the 

combined forces of district police, central paramilitary forces and Cobra battalions,” said Rajput. The 

Maoists had also felled trees in southern part of Gadchiroli. Several arterial roads in Etapalli tehsil were 

blocked by the Maoists with logs. Villagers had to remove several felled trees from the roads beyond 

Perimilli. The Maoists also tried to block the Alapalli-Etapalli road. Unconfirmed sources indicated that 

some Maoist pamphlets and handbills were found in the interiors in south Gadchiroli. According to an 

eyewitness, state transport buses from Laheri and Koti had to discontinue their journey near Bhamragarh 

due to tree felling. Later in the morning, the buses resumed services up to Aheri. According to intelligence 

sources, the northern part of the district covered by the Maharashtra State Rajya Committee are likely to 

witness more dedicated efforts through meetings and posters to observe the Martyrs’ day than 

Dandakaranya Special Zonal committee, which is active in the southern part of Gadchiroli. (Times of India 

23/3/2010)

Maoists gaining foothold in Gujarat, say police (12) 

Ahmedabad, March 22, 2010: Maoists are slowly gaining a foothold in Gujarat, which despite of having a 

large tribal population has so far remained unaffected from the 'red terror', police said. Arrest of a Maoist 

leader from Surat and spurt in Maoist meetings, secret movement of the rebels in the state and 

distribution of leaflets asking people to join the armed movement indicate that the banned CPI (Maoist) is 

trying to spread its network in Gujarat, they said. They target migrants, who have come here in large 

numbers from other Naxal-affected states, as their potential cadres, police said. "The Maoists are using 

the land (Gujarat) as place to recruit potential cadres from the large number of migrant population, who 

have come here from Naxal-hit states like Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar, especially in south Gujarat city of 

Surat and collect funds for their movement," ADGP (Law and order) Sudhir Sinha told PTI. "CPI-Maoist 

cadres are brainwashing potential migrant recruits and are sending them back to the state of their origin 

to work there," Sinha said. (Hindustan Times 23/3/2010) 

Maoists kill 9 troopers in landmine blast (12) 

Bhubaneswar/Lalgarh, April 4, DHNS: Maoist guerrillas triggered a landmine blast in Orissa’s tribaldominated 

Koraput district on Sunday morning, killing nine security personnel and injuring 10 others. The 

incident took place on a day when Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram exhorted West Bengal Chief 

Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to act firmly against the menace. Reaching the rebels’ heartland of 

Lalgarh in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district for a first-hand assessment of the situation, 

Chidambaram sought to put the ball in Bhattacharjee’s court, saying the “buck stops” at the chief 

minister’s door when it comes to law and order in the state. All the security personnel killed in the 

deadliest attack in nearly two months belonged to the special operations group (SOG) of the Orissa 

police. One security man is missing. According to Koraput district intelligence bureau (DIB) officer SK 

Acharya, the incident occurred at place called Mantriamba near Baipariguda town of the district when 

securitymen were passing through a hilly road on a mini bus. “About 70 SOG jawans were travelling in 

three mini buses when the Naxals triggered the landmine targeting the first of the three vehicles. All the 

killed and injured security personnel were in the first bus”, Acharya told Deccan Herald. The jawans were 

on their way to clear a road, which the Naxalites had blocked with an uprooted tree, connecting Koraput 

with the neighbouring district of Malkangiri. The road clearing was needed for the movement of Border 

Security Force (BSF) which has already arrived in Orissa for Operation Green Hunt. Five BSF battalions 

are currently stationed in Koraput and Malkangiri districts for the special anti-Naxal operation. Sunday’s 

incident on the eve of the launching the special anti-Maoist operation has come as a big jolt for the 

security forces. Soon after the incident, the superintendents of police (SPs) of Koraput and Malkangiri 

districts reached the spot with additional forces for a combing operation in the area. Ruling out 

deployment of the Army to tackle the Naxal menace, Chidambaram conceded that the outlawed 

movement has been posing the biggest internal security threat to the country and the current offensive 

against the rebels will be long drawn. Dubbing the Naxals cowards, the Home Minister slammed them for 

using the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) in Lalgarh to mislead the tribals. “Naxals 

are cowards. Why are they hiding in forests? We have invited them for talks (only) after they abjure 

violence. If they really want development, if they really want to solve problems of the people, they are 

welcome to talk,” he told newsmen at Lalgarh police station after a three-hour-long visit-cum-meeting with 

top security officials. Even as the PCAPA has called a 24-hour bundh in West Midnapore, Purulia and 

Bankura districts in protest against the Home Minister’s visit to Lalgarh, Chidambaram urged the locals 

not to provide “direct or indirect’ support to either the Naxalites or the PCAPA.” (Deccan Herald 4/4/10) 

Chhatisgarh attack 'consequence' of Green Hunt: Maoist leader (12) 

New Delhi, April 06, 2010: On the day Maoist guerrillas carried out the worst massacre of security 

personnel by trapping and slaughtering 75 men in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh, Gopal, a top Maoist 

leader, said the attack was a "direct consequence" of the government's Operation Green Hunt offensive. 

"The attack in Chhatisgarh and the earlier one in Orissa is a direct consequence of the Central 

Government persisting with Operation Green Hunt," Gopal, 'area commander' of Bihar-Jharkahndnorthern 

Chhatisgarh, told BBC's Hindi Service in an interview. "There has been no impact of Operation 

Green Hunt (paramilitary offensive against Maoists in five states) on our cadres. We have become more 

alert since then. We believe that the time to engage in direct battle with the Central Government has now 

come. There is a new revolutionary zeal in our cadres," he added. "We have been surrounded by 

paramilitary battalions. They are setting fire to the forests and making adivasis (tribals) flee. In this 

situation, we have no other alternative (but to stage attacks). "We were prepared to talk to the 

government. Chidambaram Sahab wanted a 72-hour ceasefire but our leader Kishenji offered a 72-day

ceasefire. But we wanted an end to Operation Green Hunt and release of our leaders held in various jails 

to create the right environment for talks. But Chidambaram refused," he said. (Hindustan Times 6/4/10) 

Chronology of major recent Naxal attacks in India (12) 

New Delhi: Following is the chronology of major recent Naxal attacks in the country. July 16, 2008: 21 

policemen killed when a police van was blown up in a landmine blast in Malkangiri district of Orissa. June 

29: Maoists attack a boat on Balimela reservoir in Orissa carrying four anti-Naxalite police officials and 60 

Greyhound commandos, killing 38 troops. Oct 8, 2009: 17 policemen killed when Maoists ambushed 

them at Laheri police station in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. Sep 30: Naxalites set ablaze Gram 

Panchayat offices at Korchi and Belgaon in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. Sep 26: Naxals kill BJP MP 

from Balaghat Baliram Kashyap's sons at Pairaguda village in Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh). Sep 4: Naxals kill 

four villagers in a forest in Aaded village in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. Jul 31: A special police officer 

and another person killed by Naxals in Bijapur district. July 27: Six persons killed when Naxals trigger a 

landmine blast at Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh. July 23: A 40-year-old tribal killed by Naxalites at 

Ettapalli taluka in Gadchiroli district. July 18: Naxalites kill a villager in Bastar and in a separate incident 

torch a vehicle engaged in road construction work in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh. June 23: A group of 

motorcycle-borne armed Naxal rebels open fire on Lakhisarai district court premises in Bihar and free four 

of their comrades including the self-style Zonal Commander of Ranchi. June 16: Maoists kill 11 police 

officers in a landmine attack followed by armed assault. In a separate attack, four policemen were killed 

and two others seriously injured when Maoists ambush them at Beherakhand in Palamau district. June 

13: Naxals launch two landmine and bomb attacks in a small town close to Bokaro, killing 10 policemen 

and injuring several others. June 10: Nine policemen, including CRPF troops and officers, ambushed by 

Maoists during a routine patrol in Saranda jungles in Jharkhand. May 22: Maoists kill 16 policemen in the 

jungles of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra. April 22: Maoists hijack a train with at least 300 people on 

board in Jharkhand and force it to Latehar district before fleeing. April 13: 10 paramilitary troops killed in 

eastern Orissa when Maoists attack a bauxite mine in Koraput district. Feb 15, 2010: 24 personnel of the 

Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) killed as Maoists attack their camp in Silda in West Midnapore district of 

West Bengal. April 4, 2010: Maoists triggered a landmine blast killing 11 security personnel of the elite 

anti-naxal force Special Operations Group (SOG) in Koraput district of Orrisa. (DNA 6/4/10) 

Use state power to end Naxal violence: parties (12) 

NEW DELHI: Parties across the political spectrum on Wednesday agreed that Naxal violence must be 

stopped with all means at the disposal of state power, but differed in their approach to and understanding 

of the issues involved. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said alienation of tribals from their land by 

foreign and Indian mining interests was at the root of the problem, while the Bharatiya Janata Party said 

misguided human rights activists who sympathised with Naxals must understand that their real aim was 

not development of tribals, but seizing political power through the barrel of the gun. The Congress, as 

expected, stood firmly with the government and expressed its shock and outrage over Tuesday's killing 

CRPF jawans in Chhattisgarh. This was not the time to talk about a dialogue with the Naxals, party 

spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said. A CPI (M) Polit Bureau statement said the massacre of 76 

policemen in Dantewada was a reminder that no State government could singly tackle the Maoist 

violence. With the Maoists conducting major armed operations in seven States, it became the 

responsibility of the Centre to ensure a coordinated response and provide adequate assistance. In short, 

the “buck” cannot stop with the Chief Ministers. “At the same time, the Centre should change policies that 

are harming the rights of tribal people, who are the worst victims of Maoist activity. The Maoists have to 

be fought politically by mobilising the people against them,” the statement said. The Maoists were 

concentrating their activities in the forest areas of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh 

inhabited by Adivasis where large tracts were being handed over to foreign and Indian companies for 

mining operations. “Instead of adopting measures for the socio-economic development of such regions, 

the Centre's policies are harming tribal interests. The displacement of the tribal people and the loss of 

their livelihood and habitats are a direct result of policies that are indiscriminately throwing open all these 

areas for mining operations, legal and illegal,” the statement said. The BJP spokesperson, Ravi Shankar 

Prasad, emphasised that the Naxals “neither believe in the idea of India or its Constitution nor in the 

democratic process.” Their aim “is to seize political power.” It was a mistake and myth to think the Maoists 

enjoyed popular support, he said, citing statistics from some Naxal-affected districts, where despite the 

call for boycott of elections, 50-80 per cent people cast their votes. Mr. Prasad described the Maoists as 

“anti-tribal” who did not flinch from blowing up roofs of schools and hospitals or destroying roads. It was a 

rare occasion when the BJP said it stood solidly with the Home Minister and his government. When 

Naxals were indulging in mass murders, there should be no question of holding out the olive branch to 

them, Mr. Prasad said. (The Hindu 8/4/10)

Maoists open new front to rope in farmers (12) 

Kolkata: After establishing base in the tribal belts, Maoists are trying to persuade farmers to join them as 

armed guerrillas. To achieve this, CPM has floated a farmers’ wing, Agra-gami Krishak Samiti, whose 

members will scatter in different farm belts of the country and organise peasants. An underground Maoist 

spokesman in West Bengal told the media on Tuesday that the decision to form the peasants’ wing was 

taken at a secret meeting in the jungles of Jharkhand’s Singhbhum district last month. “Initially, the 

peasants’ wing will operate in Bengal, Bihar, Chhattishgarh, Andhra, Orissa and Jharkhand. Slowly, we 

will try to make inroads in other states,” he said. Explaining the reason for opening the new front, he said 

CPI(M) believed the deplorable condition of farmers was similar to that of the tribals. “In tribal belts, the 

government and big industry houses are making joint attempts to displace locals and extract natural 

resources. In case of farmers, the pattern of exploitation is similar, that is through forceful acquisition of 

farmland for industry. We want unification of tribal and farming communities to organise a bigger war 

against this exploitation,” he said. (dna 8/4/10) 

Digvijay differs with Chidambaram over anti-Naxal strategy (12) 

New Delhi, April 14, 2010: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has differed with Home Minister P 

Chidambaram over treating the Naxalite issue as a law and order problem and has called for a rethink of 

the counter-Maoist strategy. At the same time, Singh, a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, said, 

"The buck stops with the chief minister for law and order and not with the Union Home Minister "In this 

case (regarding Maoists), I have differed with his (Chidambaram's) strategy that does not take into 

consideration the people living in the affected area who ultimately matter. He is treating it purely as a law 

and order problem without taking into consideration the issues that affect the tribals", Singh said. In an 

article in a newspaper, Singh, in whose tenure as Chief Minister the Maoist-affected Chhattisgarh was 

carved out of Madhya Pradesh, said, "When I raised these issues with him (Chidambaram), he said it was 

not his responsibility." Singh said he has known Chidambaram since 1985 when he and the Home 

Minister were both elected to Parliament. "He is extremely intelligent, articulate, committed and a sincere 

politician - but extremely rigid once he makes up his mind.I have been a victim of his intellectual 

arrogance many times, but we still are good friends. "I strongly believe in the collective responsibility of 

the Cabinet, and as the Home Minister, it is his responsibility to take a holistic view of the issue and put it 

up to the Cabinet rather than opt for a narrow sectarian view. The Home Minister is also a member of the 

core group," the AICC General Secretary said. Singh's statement is significant as it has come close on 

the heels of the Dantewada massacre in which Maoists killed 75 CRPF jawans and one Chhattisgarh 

policeman. "Maoists, at the most, are misguided ideologues who have lost faith in the system and feel 

that the only way to deliver is through the barrel of a gun. "But the sheen of that political ideology appears 

to be wearing off when we see traders, forest contractors, industrialists and mining companies carrying on 

their business without a problem - in fact, quite merrily - in the Naxalite-dominated areas," Singh said in 

the article titled 'Rethink counter-Maoist strategy". He said, "The Centre provides central forces at the 

request of the state government and their deployment is the responsibility of the state government. In this 

incident, where was the state police? I believe it was represented only by a head constable. "Why is the 

home minister taking the flak when it is the chief minister who should be answering the questions?" he 

asked He said the problem could be resolved by paying more attention to the issues of livelihood of local 

people and governance rather than converting the serene and calm environment of Bastar into a 

battlefield. "Ultimately, whether the bullet is fired from a Naxal's gun or a policeman', the victim is an 

ordinary Indian citizen", he said. (Hindustan Times 15/4/10) 

Digvijay differs with Chidambaram over anti-Naxal strategy (12) 

New Delhi, April 14, 2010: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has differed with Home Minister P 

Chidambaram over treating the Naxalite issue as a law and order problem and has called for a rethink of 

the counter-Maoist strategy. At the same time, Singh, a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, said, 

"The buck stops with the chief minister for law and order and not with the Union Home Minister "In this 

case (regarding Maoists), I have differed with his (Chidambaram's) strategy that does not take into 

consideration the people living in the affected area who ultimately matter. He is treating it purely as a law 

and order problem without taking into consideration the issues that affect the tribals", Singh said. In an 

article in a newspaper, Singh, in whose tenure as Chief Minister the Maoist-affected Chhattisgarh was 

carved out of Madhya Pradesh, said, "When I raised these issues with him (Chidambaram), he said it was 

not his responsibility." Singh said he has known Chidambaram since 1985 when he and the Home 

Minister were both elected to Parliament. "He is extremely intelligent, articulate, committed and a sincere 

politician - but extremely rigid once he makes up his mind.I have been a victim of his intellectual 

arrogance many times, but we still are good friends. "I strongly believe in the collective responsibility of

the Cabinet, and as the Home Minister, it is his responsibility to take a holistic view of the issue and put it 

up to the Cabinet rather than opt for a narrow sectarian view. The Home Minister is also a member of the 

core group," the AICC General Secretary said. Singh's statement is significant as it has come close on 

the heels of the Dantewada massacre in which Maoists killed 75 CRPF jawans and one Chhattisgarh 

policeman. "Maoists, at the most, are misguided ideologues who have lost faith in the system and feel 

that the only way to deliver is through the barrel of a gun. "But the sheen of that political ideology appears 

to be wearing off when we see traders, forest contractors, industrialists and mining companies carrying on 

their business without a problem - in fact, quite merrily - in the Naxalite-dominated areas," Singh said in 

the article titled 'Rethink counter-Maoist strategy". He said, "The Centre provides central forces at the 

request of the state government and their deployment is the responsibility of the state government. In this 

incident, where was the state police? I believe it was represented only by a head constable. "Why is the 

home minister taking the flak when it is the chief minister who should be answering the questions?" he 

asked He said the problem could be resolved by paying more attention to the issues of livelihood of local 

people and governance rather than converting the serene and calm environment of Bastar into a 

battlefield. "Ultimately, whether the bullet is fired from a Naxal's gun or a policeman', the victim is an 

ordinary Indian citizen", he said. (The Hindu 14/4/10) 

‘Salwa Judum losing steam’ (12) 

New Delhi, April 20, 2010: The controversial Salwa Judum movement that started in Chhattisgarh nearly 

five years ago has lost its momentum, the government told Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The movement had 

started out as a revolt of local tribals against the excesses of Maoists in Chhattisgarh, with 

encouragement from the state government. “However, the movement has lost its momentum,” Minister of 

State in the home ministry Ajay Maken told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Maken did not elaborate since the 

Supreme Court was hearing a related case of allegations of violation of human rights by Naxalites and 

Salwa Judum activists. Maken’s statement comes in the backdrop of the home ministry’s renewed 

emphasis on accelerated development of Maoist affected districts as well as police action. Home Minister 

P. Chidambaram had on Monday emphasised on the ministry’s two-pronged approach that had ensured 

massive allocation of funds for 34 Naxal-affected districts. “Extra money is being given under various 

programmes… We have programmes that apply throughout the country applying to these 34 districts 

also, and, additional money is being given,” the home minister said. Chidambaram, however, noted that 

the states were slow in spending the allocated funds. “Unfortunately, not all the money is being spent... I 

think money must be spent,” he said. The home minister emphasised on taking development to the extent 

possible to these areas. As and when security forces grain control over these areas, “we must rush in 

development. That is our approach; and that will continue to be our approach”. With no clear word on the 

effectiveness of the Unarmed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) being tested in Chhattisgarh, the home ministry has 

approached the National Technical Research Organisation to deploy UAVs under its control for anti-Naxal 

operations. “With the rains just round the corner and concerns that the UAVs undertrial were noisy, we 

are going to borrow the UAVs for now,” a government official said. (Hindustan Times 20/4/10) 

Fight Naxals politically, don't ignore Salwa Judum threat: CPI leader D. Raja (12) 

NEW DELHI: Asserting that Left wing extremism had to be fought politically and ideologically, Communist 

Party of India MP D. Raja called upon the Union government to rework its strategy in dealing with 

naxalism, stating that the only way to bring peace was to restore the civil administration and provide 

justice in tribal areas. Mr. Raja, who intervened during the Rajya Sabha debate on the recent attack on 

the CRPF in Chhattisgarh, also came down heavily on the government-sponsored vigilante group, Salwa 

Judum, which he termed a threat to democratic politics. He said the State government's failure to give 

justice had made the problem worse. “The victims of Salwa Judum have not got justice and they have not 

been given rehabilitation.” Quoting intelligence figures, he said Maoist numbers had swelled by at least 22 

per cent since Salwa Judum began. Condemning the killings of CRPF jawans in the strongest terms, Mr. 

Raja said the tribal people in Chhattisgarh are today increasingly getting alienated. “In the name of mining 

operations, in the name of projects, in the name of development they are being evicted from their place of 

living. The forest wealth is being handed over to the corporate sector and to the MNCs. Neoliberal 

policies which are imposed on the tribal people of Chhattisgarh have created this kind of situation,” he 

argued. He said the Chhattisgarh government had agreed on October 17, 2008 to rehabilitate and 

compensate villagers whose houses had been burnt down by the Salwa Judum. However, nothing had 

been done. “The Union government, despite acknowledging in court that Salwa Judum has burnt houses 

and committed illegal acts, continues to glorify and praise [it]. If you say Left-wing extremism is a threat to 

parliamentary democracy, Salwa Judum, a non-state player, is also a threat to the democratic politics,” he 

remarked. On February 2, 2010, he said, the Supreme Court asked Nandini Sundar, Kartam Joga, 

Manish Kunjam and other petitioners before it to file a comprehensive rehabilitation plan. “The State

government in Chhattisgarh took two weeks to file a response but has not done anything till now.” The 

main aspects of this rehabilitation plan were to: (a) identify affected persons through survey, (b) hold 

sittings of district judges in block headquarters, etc., (c) deal with heinous crimes like rape, murder and 

restore essential services in the villages. All this was to be supervised by a senior retired judge or retired 

secretary to the Union government, he said. Responding to Home Minister P. Chidambaram's statement 

that “human rights activists” should guarantee that Maoists would not again demolish schools the 

government rebuilds, Mr. Raja asked whether the government was ready to guarantee that “schools will 

be allowed to run as schools, not as camps of security forces.” School buildings in tribal areas had been 

taken over by the security forces, he said. “Can [Mr. Chidambaram] assure the nation that school 

buildings will be used for schooling the children of tribal people?” Quoting The Hindu report of April 14, 

2010, Mr. Raja said the Maoists had indicated that they were ready for a simultaneous ceasefire. “Can 

the government remain adamant? [The Home Minister] says that if [the Maoists] abjure violence, then 

only [the government] can speak. But ceasefire or giving up violence has to be a matter agreed upon by 

two sides.” (The Hindu 21/4/10) 

People of Naxal-hit Orissa villages return home from camps (12) 

Rourkela, April 22, 2010: After spending more than four months in make-shift camps, 191 families of five 

tribal villages in the Naxal-hit Sundergarh district have returned home. Nearly 3,000 people had been 

sheltered in camps near the K-Balang police station area in the Bonai sub-division of the district since 

December 22, last year after the Maoists ran through their vilages. The villagers of Relhatur, Mahuspada, 

Longakata, Sanblijore and Jharbeda moved to the K-Balang police station for fear of reprisal after they 

helped security forces to arrest some ultras along with arms and ammunition. The villages were earlier 

promised jobs under NREGS, medical health care, and education in the camps till the situation improved 

in their villages. But, the promises were never redeemed by the authorities, the villagers complained. 

There were frequent landmine blasts in the villages which damaged school buildings, panchayat buildings 

and health centres triggering panick. The Maoists have, meanwhile, appealed to the villagers to return 

home and extend their support to their movement.(Hindustan Times 22/4/10) 

Dantewada massacre: Probe finds command failure (12) 

New Delhi The inquiry by the E N Rammohan committee into the Dantewada massacre is likely to hold 

the Deputy Commandant who was leading the 82-member CRPF team responsible for “command and 

control” failure and violation of standard operating procedures. The report is likely to fault the 

Chhattisgarh police for lack of cohesiveness, failure to fully support the Central paramilitary forces in anti- 

Naxal operations in the state. It will impress upon the Centre and states the need to respect tribal rights 

and not allow rampant industrialisation in tribal areas. On April 6, Naxals killed 76 securitymen, 75 of 

them from the CRPF, in Dantewada district. Top government sources told The Indian Express that former 

BSF Director General Rammohan completed his inquiry on Wednesday evening. He is likely to submit the 

findings to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram as early as tomorrow though he had been given time till 

April 25. Rammohan met Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday and had a one-onone 

meeting, discussing anti-Naxal operations. While the contents of the inquiry report are classified, 

Rammohan has recommended a string of steps to bring Chhattisgarh tribals on board with anti-Naxal 

operations. He is learnt to have suggested that the state government refrain from signing more MoUs with 

industries in tribal areas. Sources said he found that the task given to the personnel of the CRPF 62 

Battalion was a joint operation that had the concurrence of senior state police officials but local police 

support was less than desired. This negates the claim of a Chhattisgarh IG who on April 6 said that the 

CRPF was operating solo. State police support to the CRPF patrol party was headed by a head 

constable. It is learnt that the inquiry found lack of cohesiveness among the state police — the 

Dantewada DIG and his SP were not exactly functioning as a unit. The inquiry found evidence that the 

CRPF team did not stick to the earmarked patrol task with specific grid references, made its own rules by 

moving in and around the area where they were finally attacked by the Naxals. (Express India 23/4/10) 

Gujarat police arrest 10 Maoists (12) 

Surat, April 25 : Gujarat Police have been able to arrest at least 10 suspected Maoists in the last two 

months. Acting on a tip-off that some Maoist cadres were trying to incite the tribal population in the state 

for violence, the Gujarat Police formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) and made arrests. Public 

prosecutor Ranjit Singh Rathore has informed that one of the recent arrests was that of Vishvanath 

Varadarajan Iyer, an ex-Customs officer. According to the police, the ten arrested Maoist cadres were 

trained in arms handling in the Kerala by a Filipino trainer and Iyer facilitated the Maoists' training. "Till 

now ten Maoists cadres have been arrested. One of them is Vishvanath alias Vishu Varadarajan Iyer. 

Vishwanathan took training in the forests of Kerela and also gave training to others. The trainer was from

Philippines. The police is investigating his activities and the court has sent him into custody for remand till 

28th of this month," said Rathore. The Maoists say that they are fighting for the rights of the poor and 

marginal farmers and landless labourers. However, they have been indulged in killings of people. The 

rebels have ignored repeated calls from the government to renounce violence and negotiate. Instead, 

they have stepped up attacks in recent months, prompting the government to go after them in a concerted 

strike. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has described the Maoists as the gravest threat to India's 

internal security. The rebels carried out more than 1,000 attacks last year, killing more than 600 people. 

The latest incident was an attack on Central Reserve Police Force battalion in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada 

district, which left 76 CRPF persons killed. (New kerala 26/4/10) 

Panchayat system can help counter Maoist menace: PM (12) 

New Delhi: Manmohan SinghPrime Minister Manmohan Singh today said challenges posed by Maoists 

could be countered by empowering rural poor and marginalised sections through Panchayati Raj 

Institutions (PRIs). “We should pay special attention to ensure that PRIs function effectively in remote and 

backward areas, which include tribal areas. This will help us in tackling the challenges such as the Maoist 

menace,” he said inaugurating a conference to celebrate the National Panchayati Raj Day. Singh said 

participation of Panchayats in various development programmes was essential as “they understand the 

local needs” “Panchayats not only make direct participation possible for the marginalised section of 

society in governance, but also play an important role in ensuring transparency and accountability in the 

functioning of government institutions and officials,” he added. Describing the day as “historic” for PRIs, 

he said it was on this day in 1993 that the 73rd Constitutional Amendment was implemented to enable the 

three-tier Panchayats to take responsibility of governance. “This has made decentralisation (of power) 

possible up to the grassroot level. The impact of the 73rd amendment is now very clearly visible. It has 

empowered the common man and poor, and has brought about changes in the power equations in rural 

India,” he said. Expressing happiness over the regular conduct of Panchayat elections, Singh said over 

2.8 miilion people have now officially become part of the country’s democracy through about 600 district 

panchayats, 6,000 intermediate panchayats and 230,000 gram panchayats. Noting that 33 per cent 

reservation for women has been implemented in the PRIs, the prime minister said it was a matter of pride 

for the country that today about 1 million women work in rural India as elected representative, which is 

more than the number of reserved seats. “With the implementation of the proposed 50 per cent quota for 

women in PRIs, their number is expected to increase to 1.4 million in these institutions,” he added. The 

prime minister said apart from the women’s reservation in PRIs, there are arrangements for providing 

quota for SCs and STs in proportion to their population, while some states have provided reservation to 

OBCs too. “The objective of all these measures is to enhance direct participation of weaker sections in 

governance,” he said. Singh said PRIs have been given special importance in the implementation of 

various government schemes in the 11th Five-Year Plan as they understood the local issues well. “Our 

government is aware of the difficulties being faced by Panchayats. It has been our continuous endeavour 

that basic facilities are provided to PRIs and arrangements for (devolution of) funds, functions and 

functionaries be made to them,” he said. “This will help giving a new shape to the services rendered by 

the Panchayats,” he said. Noting that the government had under the 13th Finance Commission 

announced a share to the Panchayats from tax collections, the Prime Minister said this would give PRIs 

the status of local self-governance units in the real sense. (Business Standard 25/4/10) 

Maoists trigger blast at girl's school in Orissa (12) 

Koraput (Orissa), May 02, 2010: Armed Maoists triggered explosions at a government-run residential 

school for tribal girls, barely few metres away from a BSF camp in the district, police said on Sunday. 

About 200 ultras stormed the school premises at Dhepaguda under Narayapatna area and set off at least 

three blasts last night, causing extensive damage to furniture and other goods, Superintendent of Police 

Anup Kumar Sahoo said. However, no one was injured in the attack as the girls had gone home for 

summer vacation and no damage was caused to the structure. The ultras put up posters on the wall and 

shouted slogans before leaving the place. (Hindustan Times 2/5/10) 

Maoists blast school building (12) 

BERHAMPUR: Maoists blasted rooms of a residential school for tribal girls at Dhepaguda in 

Narayanpatna block of Koraput district in Orissa on Saturday night. Koraput Superintendent of Police 

Anup Sahu said no one was injured during the incident. Security personnel rushed to the area to 

investigate and search for the miscreants, he said. Maoists resorted to this act to show up their protest 

against the proposed major joint operation to be taken up in the area. The building of the school was their 

target as they alleged that the school building was to be utilised as camp for the security forces. But no 

security personnel camped in the school during the attack. Sources say a group of armed Maoists, 

comprising female cadres, reached the residential school premises at around 9.30 p.m. They ordered the

staff and students present in the hostel of the school to vacate the campus. Later, they planted explosives 

inside the rooms of the school and blasted them from a distance through a switching device connected 

through wires. Eyewitnesses say there were three blasts. The SP said the blasts did not make any major 

damage to the building. But the furniture of the school was damaged in the blast. The irony was that the 

incident occurred at distance of two km from a camp of Border Security Force (BSF) in Narayanpatna 

block. Till now, the presence of paramilitary forces has not made any major impact on the activities of 

naxals and their frontal organisations, which are active in the area. Two major roads leading to 

Narayanpatna from Bandhugaon and Laxmipur remain blocked since a week. The Maoists had dug up 

the road and used cut down trees to block the Narayanpatna-Laxmipur road near Palur. They damaged a 

culvert by a blast on the Narayanpatna-Bandhugaon road. Now Narayanpatna can only be reached by a 

road via Damanjodi. The Maoists have also disrupted telecommunication services in Narayanpatna block. 

No telecommunication facility is available in most parts of the area. Maoists in the past have dug up 

communication cables and damaged mobile communication towers for it.(The Hindu 3/5/10) 

Supporting Maoists will invite 10-yr jail (12) 

New Delhi: Those who speak in favour of Maoist guerrillas will face legal action and 10 years 

imprisonment, the Government announced on Thursday in a warning to civil society groups who raise 

voices in favour of Left-wing extremism. “Any person who commits the offence of supporting such a 

terrorist organisation like CPI-M with inter alia intention to further the activities of such terrorist 

organisations would be liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or with 

fine or with both," a Home Ministry statement said. It said such action would be taken under Section 39 of 

the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The Ministry said the Centre has noticed that some Maoist 

leaders were directly contacting NGOs and intellectuals to propagate their ideology and "persuade them 

to take steps in their favour. "General public are informed to be extremely vigilant of the propaganda of 

CPI-Maoist and not unwittingly become a victim of such propaganda," the statement warned. The Leftwing 

extremist group and all its front organisations have been designated as terrorist organisations by the 

Government. According to the Ministry, the "sole aim" of the CPI-M is to overthrow the Indian State. It 

"continues to kill innocent civilians including tribals in cold blood and destroy crucial infrastructure like 

roads, culverts, school buildings, gram panchayat buildings so as to prevent development from reaching 

these under-developed areas", the statement added. (Pioneer 7/5/10) 

10 Maoists killed in gunbattle (12) 

Bhubaneshwar, May 09, 2010: Security forces killed at least 10 Maoists on Saturday evening in a jungle 

battle in Koraput district of Orissa. The combined forces of Orissa Police’s Special Operations Group, 

Andhra Pradesh’s Greyhound and the Border Security Force carried out the operation in the Gumandi 

forest in Narayanpatna, about 500 km southwest of Bhubaneswar. The operation came a day after the 

Central Reserve Police Force brass held talks on anti-Maoist strategies with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen 

Patnaik. Also, the home ministry will hold a meeting in New Delhi on May 10 with top officials of the six 

Maoist-hit states, including Orissa, as part of the efforts to fine-tune anti-Naxal strategies. On Saturday, 

the forces received information that about 50 Maoists, including some top leaders from Andhra Pradesh, 

had assembled in the jungle. The encounter began at 5.30 pm and was on for three hours. “They (the 

police) believe that some Maoists have been affected and injured during the encounter,” Patnaik told 

reporters here on Sunday. Prakash Mishra, DGP (operations), told HT: “They (Maoists) have suffered 

heavy casualties. It isn’t known exactly how many have died, as we have not recovered any body yet.” 

Mishra’s claims seem to be based on some telltale signs, such as about 12 kit bags left behind, 

bloodstains and marks of bodies having been dragged away from the spot. The Maoists retreated deeper 

into the forest after the operation. Koraput District SP Anup Kumar Sahoo said the picture would be clear 

once the security personnel returned from the jungles of Narayanpatna. Mostly tribal, Narayanpatna is 

one of the most impoverished pockets of Orissa and is a forested region bordering Andhra Pradesh. It 

offers a sheltering zone for the Maoists, who often find an easy ally among local tribals fighting against 

alleged land alienation. The area, which is also home to rich bauxite reserves and a destination for 

aluminum companies looking to set up new factories, has lately turned into a war zone between the 

Maoists and security forces. (Hindustan Times 9/5/10) 

Naxalite threat overshadows elections in Karnataka (12) 

Udupi: Election campaigns in Western Ghats’ tribal areas are a challenge due to the Naxalite threat. 

While the Naxalites could not jeopardise the state assembly and Lok Sabha elections, they may attempt 

to disrupt Gram Panchayat elections in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Chikmagalur as this is a grassroot-level 

elections. Already, graffiti with anti-state messages and distribution of leaflets appealing for a 

poll boycott are being reported in GP areas in the Western Ghats. Intelligence officials have said Naxal

literature is being distributed in Sringeri. “We have found that 30 Gram Panchayats in Chikmagalur, 

Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are Naxal-infested. Some polling booths in Eedu, Nuralbettu, Mala, 

Kervashe, Kabbinale, Navur, Kuthlur in Karkala, Udupi and Belthangady can be targeted by Naxals. 

Though they might not resort to violence, they have already begun a house-to-house campaign, asking 

people not to take part in elections,” said Jayavarma Maphal, a BJP leader in Eedu. Over 670 booths in 

Belthangady, Mudigere, Karkala, Udupi and Kundapur are sensitive, and 502 of them are hyper-sensitive, 

said intelligence officials. Dakshina Kannada alone has 181 hyper-sensitive booths. The district 

administration has made additional security arrangements in these areas. Meanwhile, the home ministry 

has instructed the authorities in these districts to notify 162 polling stations as hyper-sensitive, including 

several stations in Shimoga district. (DNA 9/5/10) 

35 killed as Maoists blow up bus in Chhattisgarh (12) 

Jagdalpur: At least 35 people – 24 civilians and 11 Special Police Officers – were killed on Monday when 

Maoists blew up a private bus using a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The blast occurred at 

4.30 p.m. at Chingavaram on the Dantewada-Sukhma road in Chhattisgarh. In Raipur, Inspector General 

R.K. Vij confirmed the death of 12 security personnel, but police sources at the spot said a total of 35 

bodies were recovered. “Search operations have been suspended for the night,” said a senior police 

officer. “As the exact number of passengers in the bus is not known, a final figure shall be provided after a 

daylight search.” At present, 17 SPOs and 10 civilians, all injured, have been counted so far. The bus was 

carrying 50-60 people. The sources said those escaping from the bus came under fire from Maoists. The 

civilians comprised youth appearing for a constabulary exam. “Currently we are in the midst of a 

recruitment drive,” confirmed the police officer. “Those killed were returning to Sukhma after the exam.” In 

the past week, the police carried out extensive de-mining operations in the area. On May 14, the police 

defused IEDs weighing about 65 kg on the Bhejji-Gorkha road and another IED, weighing about 15 kg, 

near Chintalnar. On May 15, nine crude bombs were discovered in Kanker district. However, officials 

stressed their inability to declare any area totally mine-free. “IEDs are like Maoist fast food,” said a police 

officer. “The mines can be planted in as little as 15 minutes. An area can be completely de-mined, but 

Maoists would plant a bomb within half-an-hour.” Officials said the recent attacks were part of an annual 

Maoist Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign . “Every year we see a spike in Maoist violence in the 

prelude to the monsoon season [mid-June to Mid-August],” said the sources. In an IED explosion in 

Bijapur district on May 8, seven CRPF personnel were killed. On April 6, Maoists massacred 75 CRPF 

soldiers and one police head constable in an ambush. Maoists have also stepped up attacks against 

tribals and civilians who, they feel, are assisting the police. On May 17, Maoists killed six tribals in 

Rajanandgaon for allegedly passing information to the police. Adivasi youth are a crucial cog in the 

State's fight against Maoists as they know the terrain and are familiar with Maoist methods. Besides 

recruiting tribals into the regular force, the police have also stepped up efforts to recruit Special Police 

Officers to serve as guides in jungle combing operations. Police recruitment in Chhattisgarh has gathered 

momentum as the shortfall is affecting the operations of para-military forces. (The Hindu 18/5/10) 

CPI-M, Asian Centre for Human Rights condemn Dantewada massacre (12) 

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Asian Centre for Human 

Rights on Tuesday condemned the Maoist attack that killed over 30 people in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada 

District, saying it only highlights the 'bankrupt' policies of the left extremist organization, which violate 

international humanitarian law and constitute war crime. The attack on a private passenger bus by the 

Maoists only highlights their bankrupt policies of attacking ordinary citizens in various parts of the country, 

including tribals who refuse to accept their dictates," the Party Polit Bureau said in a statement. The CPI- 

M has appealed to the people to raise their voice against the 'murderous' attack on locals and their 

livelihood and resist their 'depredations' against peaceful citizens. ""Any attack by the Maoists cannot be 

condoned. Such attacks on civilians violates international humanitarian law and constitute war crime 

under Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court," stated Suhas Chakma, Director of the Asian 

Centre for Human Rights. "This is not the first dastardly attack on civilians by the Maoists which is a clear 

violation of the Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions," he added. The Asian Centre for Human 

Rights urged the Maoists not to attack civilians. It also recommended that security forces should not travel 

on civilian buses as this increases the risk to the lives of the civilians. Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh went on 

top alert in the wake of the killing by Naxalites in Dantewada and a two-day shutdown called by the ultras 

from Tuesday to protest the anti-Maoist operations by the security forces. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister 

Raman Singh on Monday said the Naxal attack in Dantewada District showed their desperation. He said 

the Maoists, who were losing support base, acted desperately. This incident shows the cruel face of the 

Naxals. We have been saying this... when the Naxals support base finishes they resort to such methods. 

Their (Naxals) belief in people's representatives and local population has finished," said Singh. He said it

is difficult for the State Government to deploy security personnel in every village. There cannot be police 

personnel in every village. There are 20 thousand villages," Singh said. e claimed that as the security 

forces are gaining grounds at many places, the security cover would be enhanced gradually. The attack is 

the second in little over a month after 76 security personnel were killed on April 6 in Dantewada District. 

The Naxals attacked a bus carrying passengers from Gadiras to Bhusaras in Dantewada district.axals 

blew up the bus using Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at around 4.45 p.m. The blast incident took 

place a day after the Maoists called for a 48-hour shutdown in the five states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, 

Jharkhand, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. (ANI) (One India 18/5/10) 

PIL co-petitioners decry Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh (12) 

NEW DELHI: The co-petitioners of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition before the Supreme Court have 

expressed shock and horror over Monday's blasting of a bus by Maoists in Chhattisgarh in which innocent 

civilians were killed. “We condemn such senseless and inhuman violence and those responsible for it. 

Violence has no place in a democracy and those who adopt violent means to express themselves cannot 

and should not be condoned in any manner whatsoever. We convey our sympathy to the families of all 

those whose lives have been lost in this ghastly incident,” Nandini Sundar, E.A.S. Sarma and 

Ramachandra Guha said in a statement here. They said it was unfortunate that innocent tribals and 

civilians were caught in the ongoing violence in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh and other parts of eastern 

and central India.“We reiterate our consistent plea to the government to reach out to the tribals and the 

other local communities in these areas through tangible confidence-building measures, including the 

announcement and implementation of a policy that recognises the constitutional rights of the tribals in the 

notified areas,” they said. They felt that any strategy based on violence would prove counterproductive in 

the long run, adding that democratic processes alone would yield a positive outcome. (The Hindu 

20/5/10) 

Central panel chief critical of anti-Naxal tactics (12) 

Questioning the government’s approach on the Naxal issue, members of an official panel said instead of 

the government telling the ultras to abjure violence, both sides should declare a ceasefire and create an 

atmosphere for talks. “If the government is serious about solving the tribal problem, then it should 

persuade the Maoists to come for talks,” said former IAS officer Debabrata Bandopadhyay, chairman of 

the panel. The Planning Commission had set up the expert group on Development Issues with the 

Causes of Discontent, Unrest and Extremism in May 2006. The panel has already submitted its report on 

Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas. Observing that the government is taking a “wrong 

approach”, Bandopadhyay said: “The government should not speak of (Maoists) abjuring violence. Both 

sides should go for a ceasefire and create a conducive environment so that they can sit for talks.” “Both 

should leave aside some of their demands and agree on a negotiable situation. Naxals have to shelve the 

aim of seizure of power for the time being and negotiate with the state in the interest of thousands of poor 

and innocent families,” said Bandopadhyay, who had played a key role in the Left Front government’s 

Operation Barga on land reforms. Maoist leader Kishenji had said earlier that his outfit was ready for talks 

on the basis of the recommendations made by the Bandopadhyay committee. Prakash Singh, former 

Uttar Pradesh DGP and a member of the committee, said that the government’s move should be more 

calculated and well-planned. (Indian Express 24/5/10) 

Dantewada killing: 6 Naxals held (12) 

Raipur: The Dantewada police has achieved a major breakthrough in the April 6 killing of 75 CRPF 

jawans by arresting six hardcore Maoists who took part in the operation and later gave a detailed 

debriefing to Naxal top brass Ramanna and Paparao, during which the “complacency” of the para-military 

force was also discussed. “Six persons, including a commander and members of Jan militia, were 

arrested during a search operation in the Chintalnar area of Dantewada district,” Director General of 

Police Vishwa Ranjan told The Pioneer. During interrogation, those arrested confessed to their 

involvement in the massacre, he said. The Director General of Police said the arrested Maoists told the 

police that the CRPF personnel had left behind a wireless set at a place where they were taking rest after 

the operation. The Naxals kept a close tab on the movement of the paramilitary force personnel with the 

help of the wireless set and planned their operation. The Maoists leaders gave the go-ahead for the 

assault after they heard on the wireless set on April 6 at 3 am that the jawans were asked to go back and 

search for the lost set of the deputy commandant, the arrested Naxals have told the interrogators. As they 

were involved in search for the set, 250 Maoists trapped them in a V-shaped ambush and unleashed 

incessant firing, giving the securitymen absolutely no time to retaliate. After the incident, these six 

persons had given a detailed debriefing to Naxal top brass Ramanna and Paparao, during which the 

“complacency” of CRPF was also discussed, they told the interrogators. According to the arrested Naxals,

the CRPF battalion was selected as a target because they had stayed put in one place for an entire day 

and their movements were under constant watch by the Maoists, Dantewada SP Amresh Mishra said. 

Those arrested included a Maoist commander Barsa Lakhma, Oyam Hidma, Podiyami Hidma, Kawasi 

Budra, Oya Ganga, Dura Joga all members of the Jan militia of the Maoists. The arrests were made from 

within four km of Chintalnar, where 76 security personnel, including 75 CRPF men of the 62nd Battalion, 

were killed by Maoists on April 6. Significantly, the arrest of these Maoists – who, the police claimed, were 

involved in the Tarmetala carnage — has come within a couple of days of the Union Government ordering 

transfer of three CRPF officers, including DIG Nalin Prabhat, on the recommendation of the Rammohan 

Committee. Besides the CRPF officers, the committee had also held Bastar IG TJ Lonkumer and 

Dantewada SP Amresh Mishra responsible for the lapses leading to the carnage. The committee has 

reportedly recommended action against the two officers of Chhattisgarh Police. (Pioneer 25/5/10) 

65 killed as Maoist attack Maharashtra-bound train (12) 

Sixty-five passengers of a Maharashtra-bound express train were killed early on Friday and 200 injured in 

a Maoist attack which led to derailment of 13 coaches that were hit by a goods train coming from the 

opposite direction. The bodies of the passengers were removed from the mangled remains of the ill-fated 

coaches of the Howrah-Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express and the injured taken 

out with the help of gas cutters, a South Eastern Railway spokesman said. 65 bodies have been 

recovered. The toll could go up," West Bengal Home Secretary Samar Ghosh said. The incident occurred 

at 1:30 am when the train was running between Khemasoli and Sardiya stations, about 135 km from here, 

South Eastern Railway officials said. In Kolkata, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Surojit 

Karpurokayastha said that according to preliminary investigation, fish plates were found removed at the 

derailment site. Earlier, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said the derailment followed a blast apparently 

triggered by Maoists who are observing a 'black week'. "We suspect Maoist hand behind the blast," 

Member (Traffic) Railway Board Vivek Sahai said. He said the driver of the train heard a loud explosion 

after which the train derailed. Railways are investigating if the tracks were tampered with, he said. Five of 

the 13 derailed coaches fell on an adjacent track and were hit by a goods train coming from the opposite 

direction, Additional Superintendent of Police, Jhargram, Mukesh Kumar said. (Indian Express 28/5/10) 

Spurt in Maoist activities due to lack of coordination: Brinda Karat (13) 

Dumka (Jharkhand): CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat today alleged that lack of coordination 

between the Centre and the state government's has resulted in spurt in Maoist activities in the country. 

"Owing to the lack of co-ordination, no step could be initiated against the Maoists, who keep on shifting 

from one state to other," Karat, also CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member said while addressing a press 

conference here. The CPI(M) Politburo member blamed the political instability in Jharkhand for the spurt 

in Maoist activities in districts of West Bengal bordering Jharkhand. To a query about the Jnaneswari 

Express mishap in West Bengal's West Midnapore district, she accused Railway Minister Mamata 

Banerjee of "hobnobbing" with the ultra outfits directly or indirectly. The CPI(M) MP, who on a three-day 

tour of the tribal-dominated Santhal Paragana region of Jharkhand since yesterday claimed that over 

57,000 cases related to tribal lands encroached by non-tribals were pending in various courts in the state. 

She said maximum tribal land encroachment cases were registered in Santhal Paragana region of the 

state. (dna 1/6/10) 

State forced Maoists' hand: Arundhati Roy (12) 

Mumbai: Author and activist Arundhati Roy on Wednesday slammed the central government for forcing 

the tribals to take up arms and called for a re-look at the government’s policy of development. Roy, along 

with journalist Gautam Navlakha, was talking on the subject ‘War on People’ at a press gathering 

organised by Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR). The two panned the government 

and said that it was forcing war on people. “The government is trying to create and fashion an enemy so 

that it can justify war,” said Roy. Terming PM Manmohan Singh government’s signing of agreements as a 

cause for the “MoUists corridoor”, Roy questioned the need for displacing the tribals for development. “If 

the government says it cannot provide land for land, why give some for SEZ,” she said, adding, “The 

economic totalitarianism is the cause for the state to become armed and meet its ends.” She also 

questioned the logic of displacing the tribals and putting them into the cities as slum dwellers. “The 

problem exists because land reforms have not taken place. People believe that without resisting they will 

reach nowhere,” said Navlakha. The activists demanded that the government first have a clear no war 

policy against its own people and that there was no question of Maoists giving up the resistance as that 

would mean surrender, which is not the right way. (DNA 3/6/10)

Prez Rule forces Maoists shift base to W. Bengal (12) 

New Delhi, June 9: In what is giving the government considerable concern in the ongoing battle against 

the Maoists, it is learnt that following the recent imposition of President’s Rule in Jharkhand the ultra-left 

rebels have started shifting their operational base from that tribal-dominated state to parts of West 

Bengal. The intensified heat from the security forces following President’s Rule is understood to have 

given sleepless nights to some senior Maoist leaders, sources said, following which the decision was 

taken to shift their operations base to areas around Lalgarh in southern Bengal. Intelligence sources 

claim that inputs received from the field indicate that the Maoists have relocated their training camps from 

Ghatshila, Chatara, Palamau and Latehar in Jharkhand to areas around Lalgarh, Baita and Jhargram in 

West Midnapore district of West Bengal. Moreover, they are also shifting their operational camps located 

in certain parts of Hazaribagh to villages around Lalgarh, particularly Salboni and Belpahari.“Available 

inputs also reveal that top Maoist leader Koteswara Rao, alias Kishenji, is hiding in the dense forests of 

Lalgarh,” sources said. “He is in touch with other Maoist leaders of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa.” 

(Deccan Chronicle 10/6/10) 

Maoists menace: Orissa Police recover missing guard's body in Koraput (12) 

Koraput (Orissa), June 13 (ANI): The Orissa Police has discovered the remains of a village guard nearly 

six months after he was abducted by suspected Maoists from a village in the state's Koraput District.On 

Saturday evening, the police recovered the remains of Jagmohan from Dhumusil village. The incident has 

created panic among the villagers. On January 3, 2010, Jagmohan's family had lodged a complaint 

saying that Maoists and the Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh, were responsible for his abduction. "The 

deceased was my father-in-law. We don't know how he was killed. We don't know who killed him and 

threw his body," Kusumi, daughter-in-law of Jagamohan. The villagers allege that Maoists constantly 

haunt and threaten them into joining their cause. Pestered by the Maoists, many panic-stricken villagers 

have abandoned their homes and land. Sunil Kumar Karu, senior police officer of the Koraput district, said 

officials acted upon a tip-off and found Jagmohan's body buried near a hill in Dhumusil. "When we got the 

information and we dug at the place, we got the remains of the body. The wife and the children of the 

deceased identified the remains by the shirt and pant on the skeleton," Karu. The police said that further 

investigation is in process. (ANI) (One India 13/6/10) 

MHA mulling revised strategy on Maoists (12) 

New Delhi: A revised strategy to combat Maoist insurgents is being planned with the focus on precise 

intelligence, specialised training, modern equipment and faster mobility for the anti-Naxal forces. Under 

the new plan being worked out, a slew of operational measures will be instituted and high-end equipment 

acquired over the next few months with an aim to strengthen the state police forces, official sources said. 

On the anvil is a new deployment plan for the central paramilitary forces -- BSF, ITBP and CRPF. This, 

the sources said, would involve re-shuffling of the forces from one area of operation to the other. Now that 

the Cabinet has for the moment ruled out deployment of the Army, the operations of the special anti- 

Naxal unit of the CRPF -- SAF -- will be broadened, the sources said. "We will have to do with whatever 

force we have in our hands. Emphasis would be to provide a more rigorous and systematic training to 

state police personnel who will lead the fight against Naxals," a source said. The Union Home Ministry is 

now looking at recruiting ex-servicemen for demining duties. Sources said the thrust of the operation 

would be undertaken by the state police forces who "will have to be provided with modern weapons and 

systematic training." The Home Ministry is also looking at possible "substantial" increase in the funds 

given to the state government for modernisation of police forces. The Ministry is likely to push for more 

anti-landmine vehicles and other armoured vehicles. With the Defence Ministry unable to provide 

helicopters for transportation and evacuation, the Ministry is looking at hiring private helicopter operators. 

(Pioneer 13/6/10) 

Naxal camp with weapons, rations busted (12) 

New Delhi: Huge quantity of rice, 300 kg of dried fish, two generator sets, three solar panel plates, a big 

battery, three motorcycles, two cartons filled with printer cartridges and an electric metal cutter - these are 

just some of the “mind-boggling” recoveries made by the security forces after raiding a huge camp that 

the Maoists were running in the thick forest area of Porahat in West Singhbhum in Jharkhand on Monday. 

However, it was not before the security forces exchanged heavy gunfire for three days and nights since 

June 11. CRPF officials claimed that bodies of 10 suspected Maoists killed in the encounter were found 

from surrounding villages. “The Maoists do not leave the injured or dead bodies behind. They managed to 

take away the injured and tried to hide the bodies in the nearby villagers. However, the villagers later 

informed about the bodies to the security forces. The identity of those killed is being established,” they 

said. “The recoveries are one of the biggest in recent times. The camp was well fortified with bunkers and

the armoury included several types of weapons and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The camp, 

situated on a vantage position on the hilltop, posed a serious challenge to the security forces. Moving 

tactically in a joint operation, the security forces, comprising the CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar, SAF and State 

police, succeeded in reaching the camp. The recoveries are surely mind-boggling,” the officials added. 

The Naxals fired more than 2,000 rounds of different types of ammunition and lobbed grenades at the 

forces before being overpowered and forced to abandon the camp. As many as 20 claymore mines, three 

plastic bags with liquid explosive and six bags of ammonium nitrate were also found from the camp. After 

receiving a specific intelligence report that the Maoists were running a camp and training centre in the 

Porahat forest area, the security forces raided the camp in Tegir, Gerei and Mamel areas on the border of 

districts West Singhbhum and Khunti. The raid, carried out for three days and nights, led to the discovery 

of a massive training camp, perched on a hilltop in the thick forest area. The magnitude of the Maoists’ 

preparations could be gauged from the fact that they had not only set up an armed training camp but also 

established a unit for manufacturing weapons and spare parts. The camp also hosted a training centre 

and kitchen, catering to the training of hundreds of Maoists. “This was also the headquarters of anti- 

Government campaign, as is evident from the large quantity of Naxalite literature and printing materials, 

including cyclostyle machines, seized from the site. In fact, the Maoists had also felled trees to clear the 

area for setting up the camp,” sources said. Stepping up their offensive against the Maoists, the security 

forces have been recovering arms and ammunition and arresting the suspected Maoists of late. 

“However, the busting of the camp in Porahat has been the biggest catch in recent times, which is sure to 

boost the morale of the forces,” a senior official said. (Pioneer 15/6/10) 

'Naxals on the job for 24 hrs, security men work only for 8' (12) 

New Delhi, June 17, 2010: Claiming that Naxals were on the job for 24 hours while security forces worked 

for only eight, a member of the National Advisory Council has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that 

the government was losing the war against Maoists. "We are losing the war against Naxals. They are 

working for 24 hours and our security forces work for only eight hours. We need to realise the strength of 

the enemy and evolve our strategy," National Advisory Council member Ramdayal Munda told the Prime 

Minister during the first meeting of the high-profile body last week. Munda said the government should 

define its strategy to fight "people who denounce Parliament democracy" after analysing their "strength 

and intensity." He said Singh's response was "positive and prompt." "We need to realise the intensity and 

strength of the enemies. If we need to fight the elements who are denouncing the Parliamentary 

democracy, then we need to have the same intensity, planning and sincerity," he said on the sidelines of 

a function here. He also made some critical remarks on the deployment of forces in Naxal-infested areas 

and said the government should deploy "trained officers who are sitting in government offices" in the 

battleground instead of new recruits. The former Vice-Chancellor of Ranchi University said the NAC 

should concentrate of Food Security to the people and should also bridge the gap between devising and 

implementing policies. "Reminders should go from the NAC to policy makers and should suggest good 

ideas for the government. Good advices always lead to policy formation," he suggested. He said tribals 

should have the right for food, which will empower them. "Improve the public distribution system. The 

tribals have land and other things. Help them get food, roads and basic necessities. They will take care of 

the rest," he said, addressing the function to release the "Rejoinder to Government's Report to the 

People" prepared by an NGO 'Wada Na Todo Abhiyan'. (Hindustan Times 17/6/2010) 

Maoist bandh in WB hits normal life (12) 

Jhargram, WB, June 18: Normal life was disrupted in tribal areas of West Midnapore, Bankura and 

Purulia districts Friday due to the two-day bandh called by the Maoist-backed Peoples Committee against 

Police Atrocities on the first anniversary of the launch of joint forces' operation against Naxals in the area. 

Security was stepped up with joint force personnel patrolling sensitive areas. No untoward incident was 

reported from anywhere in the three districts, collectively known as Jungle Mahal, where people preferred 

to stay indoors fearing Maoist violence. Schools, colleges, markets, banks, post offices and other offices 

remained closed and vehicles kept off the roads. The PCPA will observe two-day 'black day' and 'protest 

day' from tomorrow demanding withdrawal of the joint forces and to protest the alleged police excesses. 

A bandh by Jharkhand Disom Party is also on in Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal demanding more 

provisions for tribes in the Constitution. (Central Chronicle 18/6/10) 

One year of Lalgarh: 325 people, 37 cops killed (12) 

Lalgarh: Maoist guerrillas have killed 325 people, as also 37 policemen, in the one year since the launch 

of Operation Lalgarh June 18, 2009 to flush out the Left-wing ultras from parts of West Bengal's West 

Midnapore district, figures released Thursday show. According to facts and figures released to the media 

by the district police, 698 Maoist cadres and members of their associate tribal body Peoples' Committee

Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) have been arrested. The major strikes by the ultras include the May 28 

Gyaneshwari Express tragedy in which 148 persons were killed. The left radicals also abducted two 

police personnel. However, West Midnapore Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma said though only 20 

bodies of the rebels were recovered, quite a high number of Maoist cadres were killed by the security 

personnel in gun battles at various spots. Verma admitted that the rebels looted 81 licensed guns from 

the villagers, apart from snatching 60 sophisticated arms from policemen after killing them. On the other 

hand, the police have recovered 1,000 rounds of ammunition, 146 arms and defused 185 Improvised 

Explosive Devices (IEDs). The joint forces comprising 27 companies of central paramilitary troopers and 

20 companies of state police were fighting the Maoists since the beginning of the Lalgarh operation. (Zee 

News 18/6/10) 

Police announce rewards for info on four Maoists in Purulia (12) 

Purulia, June 22, 2010: After nabbing Bapi Mahto, one of the key accused in the Jnaneswari Express 

isaster, police on Tuesday said "adequate payment" would be given for information on four other wanted 

Maoists in Purulia district. Posters of the four -- Biplab Banerjee of Baghmundi, Nandakumar Kumbhakar 

and Lambodar Majhi of Balarampur of Purulia and Ranjit Paul of neighbouring Bankura district -- who 

have been absconding for the past six months, were put up in various places in the district. The posters 

bearing the photos, names and addresses of the four were put up at Arsa, Baghmundi, Jhalda and 

Balarampur police station and other areas, Superintendent of Police Rajesh Yadav said. The posters did 

not mention the reward amount, but said that information leading to their arrest would be given "adequate 

payment." Ranjit is a member of the Maoist squad and Nandakumar and Lambodar are linkmen, while 

Biplab is the spokesman of Adivasi Moolvasi Janaganer Committee, a front organisation of Maoists in the 

district. (Hindustan Times 22/6/10) 

Naxals killed 10,000 people in 5 yrs (12) 

Naxal violence has claimed the lives of over 10,000 civilian and security personnel in the last five years 

with significant rise in the number of killings in Left-wing extremism-hit States. Of the 10,268 casualties 

between 2005 and May 2010, 2,372 deaths have been reported in 2009 as against 1,769 in 2008 and 

1,737 in 2007, an RTI reply by the Home Ministry said. Relatives mourn Nilkantha Mahata, who was 

killed by a group of Maoists, in West Bengal on June 19, 2010 A total of 1,999 civilians and security men 

had lost their lives in 2006 and 1,952 others in 2005. As many as 439 people were killed between 

January and May 2010, it said. In major Naxal attacks, 21 policemen were killed when a police van was 

blown up in a landmine blast in Malkangiri district of Orissa on July 16, 2008. In February 2010, 24 

personnel of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) were killed as Maoists attacked their camp in Silda in West 

Midnapore district of West Bengal. On April 4, Maoists had triggered a landmine blast killing 11 security 

personnel of the elite anti-Naxal force Special Operations Group (SOG) in Koraput district of Orrisa. The 

ministry has, however, refused to part with a copy of the Ramamohan Committee report. Former BSF 

chief E N Ramamohan was appointed by the Home Ministry to probe the April six Dantewada massacre 

in Chhattisgarh by Naxals in which 76 security personnel were killed. “A copy of the report filed by the 

Committee cannot be provided under Section 8 (a) of the Right to Information Act, 2005,” it said. 

Exercising the RTI, Ashwini Shrivastava had sought information on Ramamohan Committee’s report on 

Dantewada Naxal attacks among others. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs, in its reply, said, “No 

operation named as 'Green Hunt Operation' is being carried out by security forces in the Naxal-hit areas.” 

(Mumbai Mirror 27/6/10) 

52 civilians killed in Orissa in two years (12) 

Bhubaneswar: At least 52 civilians were killed by Maoist ultras in the last two years in Orissa, Chief 

Minister Naveen Patnaik said today. A total 24 and 28 civilians were killed by Maoists in 2008 and 2009 

respectively and the state government provided Rs 2 lakh to the families of each of the dead, he told the 

assembly. This apart, families who lost their members in the Maoist attack were also eligible to get Rs 3 

lakh under the Central scheme for assistance to civilian victims of terrorists, communal and Naxal 

violence. There was, however, no provision of giving government jobs to the families of victims of Naxal 

violence, Patnaik, who also holds the home portfolio, said. In its bid to tackle Maoist menace, the state 

government has raised four Special Security Battalions and Orissa Special Striking Force comprising exservice 

men who have been deployed in the Naxal infested areas, he pointed out. Besides appointing 

5000 tribal youths as special police officers, the state government had strengthened special operation 

group and special intelligence wing, Patnaik said adding anti-extremist training has been made 

mandatory for all directly recruited officers in the state police. (Zee News 28/6/10) 

Maoist shutdown hits life in tribal districts of Orissa (12)

Bhubaneswar, June 28, 2010: Normal life was disrupted in tribal-dominated districts of Orissa as a 24hours 

shutdown called by Maoists against government policies began in the state on Monday, police said. 

The shutdown affected many places in southern Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada and Malkangiri districts. 

Shops remained closed in the interior areas. "Government buses have gone off the roads. Private 

vehicles are, however, plying," Sanjeeb Panda, deputy inspector general of police (south west range), 

said. Posters opposing the anti-Maoist operation, government's investment policy, setting up of special 

economic zones and displacement of people were found in several places of these districts. (Hindustan 

Times 28/6/10) 

2-day Maoist bandh begins in 5 states, trains diverted (12) 

RANCHI/KOLKATA/BHUBANESWAR: Maoists killed a local Congress leader in Jharkhand's Garhwa 

district and injured a jawan of the joint forces in West Bengal's West Midnapore district as their two-day 

five-state shutdown began today. Forty-five-year-old Bardhan Kachhu, a well-known local tribal leader of 

Garhwa, was kidnapped from Barkol village hours before the shutdown began at midnight last night and 

shot dead by the Maoists, Garhwa Superintendent of Police Richard Lakra said. Securitymen have 

launched a combing operation. The police in Jhargram said Ajay Gupta, a jawan of assistant subinspector 

rank, was critically injured when Maoists fired at a patrol party which was on a routine combing 

operation in the Birihari forest area. Gupta was rushed to Midnapore Medical College Hospital in a 

serious condition. Security reinforcements were rushed to the area to flush out the Maoists, the police 

said. Security has been tightened at all CRPF camps and posts in the Maoist zone of Bankura, Purulia 

and West Midnapore districts. The ultras are observing the bandh in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, 

Chhatisgarh and Bihar. In Jharkhand, this was the fifth 48-hour bandh this year which affected mining 

activity in the mineral-rich state. To avoid Naxal-pockets, up and down trains of Ranchi-Delhi Swarna 

Jayanti Express, Ranchi-Varanasi inter-city and Sambalpur-Varanasi inter-city have been diverted 

through Gomo-Gaya-Mughalsarai route, railway sources said here. As per a new order, the trains will run 

at a speed of 65 km in the Naxal-infested areas during nights, the sources said. In the Maoist belt in West 

Bengal, life was affected by the shutdown. Though trains were plying, surface transport came to a 

grinding halt in the area. In Orissa, the Maoist bandh drew a lukewarm response though government bus 

services in some areas were suspended as a precautionary measure. Life remained unaffected across 

the state including areas affected by the rebels as shops, business outfits, banks, offices, schools and 

other educational institutions remained open, police said. (Times of India 30/6/10) 

Naxals mutilated CRPF personnel's bodies (12) 

Raipur: The brutal face of Naxals who killed 27 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Narayanpur 

district of Chhattisgarh came out when they slit open throats and smashed the heads of some of the 

security men. According to the preliminary post-mortem reports the jawans were brutally killed by the 

Maoists and around three to four bullet wounds were found on all the 27 CRPF personnel's bodies. "The 

Naxalites shot dead the CRPF personnel from a distance and later, they slit open the throats of three and 

smashed heads of two other jawans," a top police official told PTI. The bodies of the CRPF personnel 

were airlifted from the thick forests of Dhodawyee to the state capital's Dr B R Ambedkar hospital for 

conducting post-mortem. While the CRPF personnel foiled the Maoists move of attempting to loot the 

armory, 27 jawans were killed, he said, adding "police believe that around 15 Naxalites were killed in the 

cross-firing". A large number of heavily-armed Maoists, perched on a hilltop, had opened fire with 

automatic weapons on a 63-member security contingent which was returning on foot from road-opening 

duty on Tuesday. The dead included a CRPF Assistant Commandant Jatin Gulati. (Pioneer 1/7/10) 

Panchayat report censors chapter on Naxal influence (12) 

New Delhi, July 04, 2010: “There has been a systematic failure in giving tribals a stake in modern 

economic processes that inexorably intrude into their living spaces … systematic exploitation ... of our 

tribal communities can no longer be tolerated,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said in November 

2009. Five months later, on April 24, Singh released the State of Panchayat The Ministry of Panchayati 

Raj thought the chapter —PESA, Militancy and Governance concerns and challenges in India’s tribal 

districts — dealing with the rights and problems of tribals of the PESA districts under the Red Corridor, 

does not match with that of a government report. Panchayat’s (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act , 1996 

(PESA) intended to shift balance of power through PRIs to the tribals in areas covered by Fifth Schedule. 

Out of the 76 Maoist hit districts , 32 are PESA districts. It appears that the chapter was cut out because 

the report talks of tribals turning to ultras for protection against state oppression. The study was 

commissioned in 2009 by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to Institute of Rural Management, Anand. But 

when the report was submitted a year later to the Ministry, it found objections. The report while criticising 

coercive ways of Maoists also mentions “the good work done by the party” like mobilising community

labour for farm ponds, rain-water harvesting and land conservation works. Terming Salwa Judum extraconstitutional 

it says “such conditions of tumult disrupted normal life, rendering PESA meaningless on 

ground”. “Ministry of Panchayati Raj had observed that SoPR couldn’t be an academic study for 

incorporating extreme views. It should be balanced and should lead constructive suggestions. You are 

requested to edit the chapters accordingly and e-mail to us as soon as possible.” But sources indicate it 

could have been under the direction of more than one ministry that the chapter was removed. For IRMA, 

whose researchers spent months in Maoist-hit areas, the deletion of the chapter came as a shock. “The 

attempt by MoPR is intrusive, questioning the autonomy of SoPR. The suggestion to edit it is ... even 

coercing to come up with views palatable to them...” a professor at IRMA said. When contacted, A.N.P. 

Sinha, secretary MoPR said, “I do not care what a professor or an attender at IRMA says. Ask the director 

why it was deleted.” (Hindustan Times 4/7/10) 

Rs 13,742-cr development plan worked out for Naxal districts (12) 

Armed with integrated action plans for 35 Naxalite-affected districts in nine states, the Planning 

Commission is all set to approach the Union Cabinet for a proposed outlay of Rs 13,742 crore to wean 

away the tribals from sympathising with the Maoists through comprehensive infrastructure and economic 

development as well as proper implement of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 

1996 and related Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006. Under the proposed 

outlay, about Rs 5,768 crore would be required to be spent on road connectivity, Rs 1,602 crore on 

education, Rs 850 crore on health services, Rs 835 crore on rural electrification and Rs 888 crore on 

irrigation to bring the least developed areas on par with national development. The integrated action plan, 

which Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had asked the Planning Commission to prepare for the 

affected areas in the 2010-2011 Budget, will be discussed by the apex planning body on Monday before 

being sent to the Union Cabinet. The final plans for the 35 LWE districts have been prepared in 

consultation with the chief secretaries of the nine most affected states, district magistrates and a study by 

senior Planning Commission officials on the ground. Recognising that the key to self-governance and 

empowerment of people in 19 out of 35 districts is the proper implementation of PESA and Recognition of 

Forest Rights Act, the action plan proposes a minimum support price for minor forest produce with 

empowered gram sabhas/ panchayats responsible for eliminating middlemen and extremists. It has been 

found that the middlemen and extremists were taking 70-80 per cent of the cut, causing losses to the 

primary gatherers (tribals). (Indian Express 5/7/10) 

Naxals torch police station in Orissa (12) 

Maoists set a police station on fire in Keonjhar district of Orissa and opened random fire near a CRPF 

camp in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on the first day of their 48-hour bandh on Wednesday to 

protest the killing of top Naxal leader Azad alias Cherukuri Raj Kumar. Over 30-40 armed Maoists 

gheraoed the Daitary police station around 9 pm and set the building on fire, according to Keonjhar SP 

Ashis Singh. The rebels also raised slogans against Operation Green Hunt and displacement of tribals at 

Kalinga Nagar area of neighbouring Jajpur district. Though no senior official was present at the police 

station, assistant sub-inspector Umesh Chandra Marandi is reported to have been abducted. The rebels 

also set fire to a forest beat house. In Chhattisgarh, officials said no one was injured in the firing by the 

rebels near the CRPF camp near Ekda in Narayanpur district of Bastar region. “There was some firing 

from a distance near Edka CRPF camp. Security forces returned the fire. There is no trouble as such,” 

said IGP (Bastar range) T J Longkumeer. Meanwhile, train and bus services were affected in some areas 

of states. With trains becoming a soft target for the Maoists, security was tightened at stations and 

patrolling of tracks intensified in Maoist-hit areas. Special task forces were kept on stand-by while some 

trains were being escorted by pilot engines, a Railway official said. (Indian Express 8/7/10) 

Maoist rebels trigger powerful blast in Baster (12) 

Maoist rebels on Friday triggered a powerful blast on National Highway 16 in an attempt to target a road 

opening party of the district police personnel near Bardela village, about 25 kilometers away from district 

headquarters of Bijapur in tribal Bastar division. “The blast took place before the team of security 

personnel reached the spot. It is suspected that the rebels were trying to target the road opening party but 

the timing went wrong”, police sources in Bastar said. All the security personnel are safe, they added. 

Maoists had gone on a rampage at many places in Bastar division on the second day of Naxalite 

sponsored bandh on Thursday. The rebels unleashed an attack on a police station, stormed a Congress 

leader’s house at Nakulnar in Dantewada, blew up culverts at many places and also stabbed a police 

constable to death in Bijapur district. (Indian Express 9/7/10) 

Naxalites may take to 'urban terrorism' (12)

Washington: While the Maoist movement in India appears to be fairly contained for now, the rebel group's 

leaders and bombmakers could develop the "tradecraft for urban terrorism", a leading US strategic think 

tank has warned. Taking a closer look at India's Naxalite threat, Stratfor said while "Prime Minister 

Manmohan Singh has labelled the Naxalite issue the biggest threat to the country's internal security, 

incidents like the 2008 Mumbai attacks provide evidence to most Indians that Pakistan and the militants 

who hide there pose a greater external threat". "In the end, Naxalism is fairly contained," it said noting, 

"Despite threats and indications from Naxalites that they will attack urban targets throughout India, the 

group has yet to demonstrate the intent or ability to strike outside of the Red Corridor" - in eastern India 

that experiences considerable Naxalite militant activity. "But the group's leaders and bombmakers could 

develop such a capability, and it will be important to watch for any indication that cadres are developing 

the tradecraft for urban terrorism," it said. "Naxalites are honing the capability to construct and deploy 

IEDs, conduct armed raids and maintain an extensive, agile and responsive intelligence network," Stratfor 

warned. "Even if they do not expand their target set and conduct more 'terrorist-type' attacks, the Naxalite 

challenge to the state could materialise in other ways," it said pointing out that Naxalite organization relies 

not only on militant tactics, but also on social unrest and political tactics to increase its power. "Naxalites 

have formed sympathetic student groups in universities, and human-rights groups in New Delhi and other 

regional capitals are advocating for the local tribal cause in rural eastern India," Stratfor noted. "Instead of 

using violence, these groups stage protests to express their grievances against the state. And they 

underscore the Naxalite ability to use both militant violence and subtle social pressure to achieve their 

goals." Cautioning against deploying the military as suggested by many Indian politicians, Stratfor said: 

"Even if the government did decide to deploy the military to combat the Naxalites in eastern India, it would 

face a tough fight against a well-entrenched movement - something New Delhi is not likely to undertake 

lightly or any time soon." (Pioneer 10/7/10) 

Maoist threat to kill cop hostages 

Holding four Bihar policemen in captivity for two days since the encounter in Lakhiserai killed seven 

policemen, the Maoists have demanded withdrawal of security forces from the area and the release of 

eight of their cadres from several jails in the state as preconditions for the release of the policemen. Bihar 

DGP Neelmani on Tuesday refused to comply with the left-wing rebels’ conditions and announced that 

search operations and raids by security forces would be stepped up in southern Bihar to secure the four 

abducted policemen’s release. Mr Neelmani also held a meeting with the DG of the CRPF, Mr Vikram 

Srivastava, and chief minister Nitish Kumar, reportedly to fine-tune strategy for tackling the crisis. The 

state police headquarters, under attack for the evidently shoddy management of the prolonged encounter 

with the Maoists on Sunday, officially refused to admit both the captivity of the four policemen and the 

preconditions set by the Maoists for their release. Sources in the police, however, claimed both incidents 

bear credibility and that the police brass was planning to secure their release without giving publicity to 

the Maoists’ preconditions. “We do not agree that four of our men have been abducted by the Maoists. 

What we know as of now is that they have not returned from the encounter site. We are working 

systematically on this. We also do not know of any preconditions put forth by the Maoists,” Bihar ADGP 

(headquarters) P.K. Thakur told this newspaper Tuesday evening. Fresh details about Sunday’s 

encounter suggest that the joint operations against Maoists hiding in the hilly terrain of Lakhiserai district 

were carried out without mandatory coordination exercises between the CRPF and the STF. Sources said 

only 23 security personnel were present in the “joint team” that engaged the Maoists for over 10 hours. 

“The sacrifice of the seven policemen, who laid down their lives fighting the Maoists, will not go in vain,” 

said CRPF DGP Vikram Srivastava after his meeting with Mr Neelmani. Sources said both officers 

discussed ways to increase coordination. (AA, 1/9/2010) 

Bihar must join battle 

Sunday night’s Maoist attack in Bihar that has left at least seven policemen dead is a grim reminder of 

how well-entrenched Left extremists are in the State: They can strike with stunning impunity, kill security 

forces personnel and disappear into the night with looted arms and ammunition. The incident also 

underscores the urgent need for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to shed his ambivalence on the issue of 

fighting Maoist terror and get cracking with anti-insurgency operations. For some strange reason, Mr 

Nitish Kumar has been reluctant to denounce the Maoists unequivocally; instead, he has chosen to toe a 

soft line, describing the ruthless insurgents as a “part of our society” and insisting that strong police action 

would further “alienate them”. During a meeting of Chief Ministers of Maoist violence-affected States 

called by the Prime Minister in July, Mr Nitish Kumar had struck a discordant note, refusing to endorse the 

unanimous demand by others for tough measures to stamp out the menace. Earlier, in February, he had 

skipped a meeting called by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in Kolkata to discuss anti-Maoist 

strategies, rudely snubbing the Central initiative. In a sense, Mr Nitish Kumar has stood apart from Chief

Ministers of other States confronted with Red terror, conveying the impression that Bihar has nothing to 

worry about. But as the latest Maoist outrage, which comes in the wake of a similar attack on security 

forces in Chhattisgarh, demonstrates, Bihar is as vulnerable as West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand; that 

it needs to tone up its security forces; and, that there has to be better coordination between the State 

police and the Central paramilitary forces. While Mr Nitish Kumar is entitled to believe that Maoists can be 

talked out of their violent campaign against the state through dialogue, the harsh reality is that only a 

bullet-for-bullet policy can help deal with what the Prime Minister has repeatedly described, and rightly so, 

as the greatest threat to India’s internal security. The Bihar Government’s soft line has clearly not worked 

in taming the Red menace: Schools and healthcare centres are being blown up; tribals are being 

subjected to Maoist brutality; trains are being attacked; and, elected representatives are being told to stay 

away from their constituencies. State Assembly Speaker Udai Narain Choudhary has been threatened 

with dire consequences if he persists with development work in his Imamganj constituency. In this 

situation, it would not be in Bihar’s interest if the State Government were to stick to its flawed policy. 

There’s no percentage in delaying the joint counter-insurgency operations that have fetched results 

elsewhere. Not to do so would be tantamount to signalling to the Maoists that the State Government is 

too feeble to take on the marauders. Surely Mr Nitish Kumar doesn’t want that. (dailypioneer, 1/9/2010, 

editorial) 

Bihar hostage crisis over; abducted policemen released 

Maoists today released the three abducted Bihar policemen in Lakhisarai district, bringing an end to the 

nine-day-old hostage crisis. The three policemen -- Abhay Prasad Yadav, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and 

Ehshan Khan, who were taken hostage on August 29, were freed by the ultras this morning on the border 

of Kajra-Chanan forests and hills, about 165 kms from the state capital. The Maoists had earlier killed one 

of the captive policemen, Lucas Tete. His body was found on Friday. “All the three kidnapped policemen 

have been released by the Maoists from the Kajra-Chanan forest in Lakhisarai district after the police 

sealed the escape routes of the ultras in the forests and hills,” Director General of Police Neelmani told 

PTI. Sub-Inspector of Police and Station House Officer of Manikpur police station Yadav, SI Sinha and 

BMP Havildar Khan were with the Superintendent of Police (Lakhisarai), Ranjit Kumar Mishra, he said. 

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had offered talks with the ultras on the hostage crisis and even 

expressed the state government’s readiness to provide them safe passage for talks, heaved a sigh of 

relief after Neelmani informed him about the development. Seven Maoists, including a self-styled area 

commander and mastermind of the Lakhisarai incident Pintu Das, have been arrested in the last few days 

during the intense search operations that were launched by the security forces in the hills and forests of 

Munger, Lakhisarai, Jamui, Banka and Kaimur districts. Families of the three policemen had an agonising 

wait on Sunday when the Maoists had claimed to have released them but the state government said it 

had no information about them. The Maoists had last night again stated that the hostages would be freed 

today. Seven policemen were killed and ten others injured during a fierce encounter with Maoists in 

Sitlakodasi forest under Kajra police station in Lakhisarai district on August 29. The ultras had also 

kidnapped the four policemen. The Maoists had on Tuesday issued an ultimatum to the state government 

that they would kill hostages if it failed to release their eight jailed colleagues -- Jai Paswan, Vijay 

Chourasia, Prem Bhuiyan, Pramod Barnawal, Ramvilas Tanti, Ramesh Tirkie, Arjun Koda, and Rattu 

Koda. Avinash, a self-proclaimed spokesman for the Maoists, had then informed media offices that the 

ultras had killed SI Abhay Yadav following expiry of the deadline, but the police had recovered the bulletridden 

body of BMP ASI Tete from Singrishi dam’s Smra Tari forest in Lakhisarai district. It had forced the 

Chief Minister to offer safe passage to the representatives of the Maoists coming for talks on the crisis. 

Mr. Kumar convened an all-party meeting on Saturday that had evolved a consensus asking the Maoists 

to release the three hostages unconditionally. Avinash had soon after the appeal from the all party 

meeting, told local media offices in Jamui that the central committee of the ultra-left wing had rejected the 

offers for talks and decided to release the hostages unconditionally on “humanitarian considerations”. 

(The Hindu, 6/9/2010) 

Centre not sincere about talks with Maoists: Agnivesh 

Social activist Swami Agnivesh today accused the Centre of not being sincere about its proposed peace 

negotiations as it had not ordered a judicial probe into the death of CPI(ML) spokesperson Azad. Azad 

was gunned down by Andhra Pradesh police on July 2 in Vankhidi forest area at Jogapur in Adilabad. 

“The government is using me as a pawn to deal with Maoists”, Agnivesh, who is a mediator in brokering 

talks between Maoists and the government, told reporters on the sidelines of the World Religious 

Congress in Kochi. He said he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 20 seeking a judicial 

probe into the killing of Azad, but nothing had happened so far. Agnivesh said he had also met BJP 

leaders L K Advani, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh and CPI leaders A B Bardhan and D Raja asking

them to put pressure on the government for a judicial probe into Azad’s killing, but none of them 

responded. He said had he met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also in this regard on Aug. 23, eight 

days before the four policemen were taken hostage, to put out a statement seeking a judicial probe. 

Condemning the killing of a police official, he said the act by Maoists was not ‘revolutionary conduct’ 

While addressing the religious congress, Agnivesh said the Union Government must ensure that 

information on religion or caste is not recorded in school or academic registers as religion divides people. 

“A child should have no religion upto the age of 18. The government must ensure that there should not be 

any claims for religion or caste in school register or academic register,” he told a plenary session on ‘Role 

of Religion in Promoting Human Rights’ as part of the ongoing 33rd World Congress here. (The Hindu, 


‘Cong making Naxals audacious’ 

With the Maoists striking in a big way in Bihar, the BJP has alleged that “pro-Naxal statements” by 

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her party leaders and the Centre were directly responsible for the 

situation. “Naxalites have become audacious in Bihar. The Centre, Sonia Gandhi and her party leaders 

are directly responsible for it. By making pro-Naxal statements, they have boosted the morale of the 

rebels,” BJP spokesperson Tarun Vijay said at a Press conference. Accusing the Congress president and 

her party leaders like Digvijay Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar of weakening ‘Bihar Chief Minister Nitish 

Kumar’s fight against the Maoists’ in the State, the BJP leader said it was unfortunate that Gandhi had not 

expressed any sympathy to the family of the policeman, killed by the Maoist nor did she condemn the 

attack. “It is surprising that instead of standing by the brave policemen, she is busy celebrating her 

coronation. How does it matter that she has become president of a family set-up of Congress for the 

fourth time or 24th time?...We condemn this silence (of Gandhi),” he said. On the allegation that the Bihar 

Chief Minister was soft on Maoists while the JD(U) ally, BJP, wants strict action against them, he said, “I 

have mentioned BJP’s stand before you.” (Pioneer, 6/9/2010) 

Maoists call bandh against ‘excesses’ 

CPI(Maoists) has given a 48-hour bandh call in the six States, including Jhakhand, to be effective from 

Sunday midnight. The banned outfit has given the bandh call to protest the death of senior Naxal leader 

Azad in an alleged fake encounter with the police in the Andhra Pradesh. Other states where the bandh 

will be effective includes W Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and some parts of 

Maharashtra. Senior Superintendent of Police, East Singhbhum district, Akhilesh Kumar Jha said that the 

security has been tightened and the police are taking effective measures for any untoward incident during 

the bandh. “For security measures, we are deploying forces at the strategic locations along the NH-33 

between Pardih Chowk to Barsole in Bahragora, and intensify patrolling in the State highways at 

Ghatshila, Patamda, and Potka in view of the bandh,” said SSP. He said the intensified patrolling will be 

made to instill confidence among the villagers, aiming at the Naxal-bandh to make less effective. “We will 

try to ensure that the movement of the vehicular communication remains unaffected by the Naxal bandh,” 

said SSP. The police at Seraikela-Kharsawan and West Singhbhum district have also taken the 

necessary preventive measures in view of the two-day Naxal bandh. Railway police have also taken the 

necessary step to ensure that the 48-hour bandh from midnight remains incident free. Officials said that 

the track-patrolling will be intensified from midnight and that deployment of railway protection force are 

being made at the strategic locations at all the important railway stations under Chakradharpur division. 

(The Pioneer, 13/9/2010) 

Ceasefire urgently needed for peace talks: Arundhati 

NEW DELHI: Noted author and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy on Sunday said a " ceasefire from 

both sides" ( Maoists and security forces) was "absolutely urgent" for peace talks and the process should 

involve a group of experienced people who could mediate between the government and the Naxals. 

Stating that the government's stand of asking Maoists to abjure violence did not have any meaning when 

operations against them were going on, Roy said she thought it was absolutely urgent that there should 

be an "unconditional" ceasefire from both sides. She, however, ruled out being a part of peace talks, 

saying she did not have the "skills" required to be a mediator. "I would not like to be (a mediator or part of 

people's committee to mediate between government and Maoists). I don't think I have those skills... I don't 

think I am good at it. I am a maverick... I'll try. I don't know how to think about it," Roy told a TV channel in 

an interview on Sunday. The author was asked whether she would be prepared to be a mediator or part 

of any committee formed to mediate between the Maoists and the government. "I don't think it should be 

one person. I think there should be a group of people who are used to taking decisions collectively," Roy 

said and suggested that people like rights activist B D Sharma, "who has long experience", should be 

included in such a committee. When asked if she would like to make a statement calling upon the Maoists

to come forward for talks, she said, "No. Not when there are 200,000 paramilitary forces closing in on the 

villages." Both sides should first "unconditionally" declare a ceasefire, she suggested. Pitching for a 

committee which could talk with the government, Roy said, "If you studied the peace talks process in 

Andhra Pradesh, you see that this business of picking one person and announcing it to the media... both 

sides have done it. Home minister P Chidambaram has arbitrarily picked Swami Agnivesh. Maoists 

arbitrarily announced on the radio that they want this one or that one. That is not how it works." Asked 

about the allegation that the government killed top Maoist leader Azad because he was beginning a 

peace process, Roy said, "When one side sends an envoy and the other side kills them, what does it 

mean? That one side (government) does not want peace." (TOI, 13/9/2010) 

Maoist bandh claims eight lives 

A two-day bandh called by Maoists in six States, demanding a probe into the death of one of their 

leaders, began on a violent note on Monday. Maoists killed two policemen in Chhattisgarh, five CPI(M) 

supporters in West Bengal and a chowkidar in Jharkhand. Maoists attacked the Bhejji police station in 

Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh and shot dead two policemen, after an exchange of fire, police officials 

said. At Nachupatina village in West Midnapore district of West Bengal, Maoists shot dead five CPI(M) 

supporters. The five persons that included four of a family were dragged out from their homes and killed. 

The mother of one of the victims was injured when she resisted the Maoists. In Jharkhand's Garhwa 

district, Maoists shot dead chowkidar Rajeshar Paswan at Panchadumar, the police said. A note found 

near the body claimed that Paswan was a police informant. Maoists blew up a stretch of rail track near 

the Karmavad railway station in Giridih district of the State in the early hours of Monday. The blast 

damaged the wheels of a goods train, Dhanbad Divisional Railway Manager A. Upadhaya said in Ranchi. 

Maoists burnt an earth-cutting machine at Sahapur in Hazaribagh district, the police said. The bandh was 

called in West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, besides Gadchiroli, 

Bhandara and Chadrapur districts of Maharashtra and Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. Top Naxal 

leader Cherakuri Rajkumar alias Azad was killed in a police encounter in July in Adilabad district of 

Andhra Pradesh (The Hindu, 14/9/2010) 

Maoists butcher 5 in front of family 

JHARGRAM: A group of Maoists from the Bikash squad butchered four brothers and their uncle in front of 

their shell-shocked families in a remote village in Jhargram early Monday morning simply because they 

had taken part in a CPM rally. The siblings' mother and children, aged between two and eight, fell at their 

feet and pleaded for mercy but the Maoists — three of whom were women — shot the brothers one by 

one after hitting the 67-year-old woman in the head and kicking her aside. The incident happened in 

Chhoto Patina village of Nayagram on the Orissa border. It is 18 km from the nearest police camp. Even 

police fear to venture into this forest plateau. According to Jatindra Aguan, the siblings' father and the 

only surviving adult male in the family, 17 attackers raided their hut at 5.30am when they were fast 

asleep. "I had heard their footsteps and sensed trouble. They banged on the door. My son Prasanta 

answered and went out to meet them. The leader of the team inquired about two local CPM leaders. We 

said we did not know where they were. My wife realised what was about to happen and fell at their feet 

and begged for her sons' lives. The marauders hit her on the head and she fell back, unconscious. They 

then shot Prasanta in the chest. He died before my very eyes," the father said, choking on tears. Little did 

Jatindra know that the horror was only beginning. While Prasanta lay bleeding to death, the Maoists 

barged into the room in search of his brothers. Samaresh's eight-year-old son shivers while narrating his 

father's death. "Our room was locked from outside. The attackers shot out the lock and barged in. They 

dragged my father out even as I pleaded with them. They shot him in the courtyard. I could only look on," 

he said. Jatindra's youngest son Rahim was sleeping in a little room on the mud roof. The Maoists riddled 

him with bullets from below. He tumbled on the courtyard dead. The butchery was not over yet. The other 

brother Swapan, hiding in another room, tried to escape through the backdoor. But he was spotted and 

gunned down. He bled for hours as villagers took him to a health centre in Gopiballavpur, West 

Midnapore, and then to Topsia, where he died. Eight members of the Maoist team then raided the house 

of Jatindra's brother Amrit who had participated in a CPM rally on Sunday. "They dragged him out and 

killed him," said relative Alpana. (TOI, 14/9/2010) 

Naxals want to capture power with gun: Pranab 

Making it clear that the democratic system could not be overthrown by a “handful gun-toting persons” 

(Maoists), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said that Naxals consider themselves equal 

to the Government and did not believe in democracy. “They think power comes from the barrel of the gun 

but ultimately the democratic system would prevail,” said Mukherjee while addressing a seminar titled 

‘Red Corridor and Development’, organised by Hindi daily NaiDunia and Sunday NaiDunia. He said the

Maoist leaders have not gone to tribal areas to protect the tribals but have gone there to capture power 

with gun. “The role of the State is clear here. State cannot allow it...Democratic system cannot be allowed 

to be overthrown by a handful of gun-wielding persons,” Mukherjee said. Also present on the occasion 

were Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, NDA convener 

Sharad Yadav, Director General of Doordarshan Aruna Sharma and editor-in-chief of Nai Duniya Alok 

Mehta. Pointing out that Naxals were not interested in development and that their objective was to 

establish dictatorship, Jaitley said that Maoist-affected areas have remained backward. Stating that a 

political campaign should be launched against violence in the Naxal-hit areas, Jaitley said it is unfortunate 

that development has been hampered. “Even if local administrative officials and self-help groups want to 

go into these areas for development they face the threat of landmines or being kidnapped,” he said, 

making it clear that infrastructure could be developed only if in the absence of the Maoist threat. “The 

administration cannot spend the money earmarked for development as officials cannot enter the area,” he 

said. Sharad Yadav said that there is no leader of the tribals, who can represent them and voice their 

concerns at the national level. “There is Mandal Commission, Sachar Commission, but there is nothing for 

the tribals,” he said, adding that the tribal areas have remained backward and there is an urgent need for 

development. Rubbishing Maoist claims that MNCs are exploiting the mineral wealth of Chhattisgarh, 

Raman Singh said that only public sector firm NMDC is engaged in mining there, along with some other 

PSUs. “No MNC has mined even a quintal of iron ore from Bastar in the last 60 years,” the CM said. He 

added that the State has resolved that after cleansing Sarguja of Maoists, the next target will be Bastar. 

(Pioneer, 17/9/2010) 

Maoists kill father, son in Koraput 

A day after Maoists brutally murdered a village guard on Friday in the Malkangiri district, the Reds again 

unleashed terror in Lachmani village of Laxmipur block in the Koraput district by slitting the throat of a 

father-son duo on Saturday. The deceased have been identified as Kapur Khora and his son Dishankar. 

The victims were called from their homes and sentenced in a kangaroo court. Later, their throats were slit 

after tying their hands in Taliban-style brutality. The Maoists alleged that they were selling liquor, 

harassing villagers and passing on information to the police. According to reports, about two dozen ultras 

entered the village around 7:30 pm. The villagers, who had been assembled by the rebels, were asked to 

leave and told that they wanted to discuss some matter with the Kapur and his son, saying the two would 

also be allowed to go later. However, later the villagers found their bodies with their hands tied. A Maoist 

poster written in Telegu was left behind in which the Koraput-Srikakulam division of the CPI (Maoists) has 

claimed responsibility for the killings. The poster stated that both the traders were police informers and 

punished as they were exploiting the labourers. The gruesome killings, a day after the Malkangiri incident, 

have triggered panic in the area. So far the Maoists have killed six persons in the past six weeks in the 

volatile district, which, after Malkangiri, is the latest hotbed of Red terror. Though Central Paramilitary 

Forces have been deployed in the district, the Maoists have managed to spread their reign of terror. 


Sarpanch among two gunned down in Koraput 

Maoists again struck in Koraput gunning down two people including a sarpanch and panchayat supervisor 

on Monday afternoon. Another person was critically injured in the incident. This is the second incident in 

the region in the past 24 hours. Earlier the ultras had killed a father-son duo at Lachmani village under 

Laxipur police station on Sunday.In the latest attack, the ultras gunned down Bija Ghati sarpanch Rabi 

Khara and panchayat supervisor Puri Sirika at Kudumula village under Damanjodi police station. The 

incident occurred at around 3: 30 pm. Reports said around 10 armed ultras who were lying in wait, 

attacked and fired indiscriminately on Kharo and Sirika, who were travelling on a motor cycle to Jumuri 

Padar from Damanjodi. Both of them died on the spot while another person Suresh Sirika was seriously 

injured in the attack. He is now undergoing treatment at Mathaput hospital. A hand written Maoist poster 

was recovered from the spot in which the Srikalulam-Koraput division of the CPI (Maoists) has claimed 

responsibility for the killings. (Pioneer, 21/9/2010) 

7 cops abducted, 3 bodies found 

Seven policemen, including one sub-inspector, have allegedly been abducted by Maoist rebels in two 

separate incidents in the rebel stronghold of South Bastar in Chhattisgarh, the police said on Monday. 

Bodies of three of them were found in Depla forest in Bijapur district on Monday morning. According to 

the police, six policemen, including one sub-inspector, one head constables and four constables, were 

abducted by a group of armed Maoists while they were going to Bhadrakali police station from 

Bhopalpatnam police station in three motorcyles on Sunday evening. A search party of CRPF, district 

force (DF) and special police officers (SPOs) of Chhattisgarh police immediately rushed to the area to

escue them. The team, however, slowed down its search operation after receiving reports on recovery of 

three bodies on the bank of Chinta river between Bhopalpatnam and Tarlaguda, fearing a rebel trap in the 

area, the police said. Ultras usually plant landmines near the bodies of security personnel after killing 

them to woo the search team to walk into the trap. "Bodies of three kidnapped police men were found at a 

place between Bhopalpatnam and Bhadrakali. The search team was moving into the area to recover the 

bodies and rescue other abducted policemen. I am going to undertake an aerial view of the area," Bastar 

Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) T.J. Longkumar told this newspaper. The deceased have been 

identified as Subhas Patra, Narendra Bhosalre and Sukhram Singh. Other policemen who were yet to be 

traced are Oberam Tirkey, B. Toppo and Nandlal Kaushal. "No organisation or individual has so claimed 

responsibility for abduction and killing of the policemen. We have not been contacted by anybody so far to 

place his demand to secure the release of the three kidnapped security personnel," a senior police officer 

here said. In another incident, one constable Dulluram Sodhi, posted at Bhadrakali police station, went 

missing on Saturday when he was on his way to Bhopalpatnam for treatment. The police suspects that 

the constable was also abducted by the ultras. (AA, 21/9/2010) 

Three bodies recovered, 4 policemen still missing 

The Chhattisgarh police have recovered the bodies of three policemen in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, 

even as searches for four other policemen continued. Chhattisgarh Director General of Police 

Vishwaranjan said that the six policemen were travelling on Sunday on two motorcycles in the forests 

between Bhopalpatnami and Bhadrakali when they went missing. “We have recovered the bodies of one 

head constable, a constable and a special police officer,” said Mr. Viswaranjan. The three bodies have 

been identified as those of Obedam Tirki, Nandlal Khosle and Erpa Krishnan. No demand for ransom 

Police suspect that the attack was conducted by cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). 

The district police are also searching for a seventh policeman who has been missing for the last several 

days after leaving his camp in Bijapur for his village. Mr. Vishwaranjan said that the Maoists had not 

raised any demands regarding a possible ransom for the four missing policemen. Bijapur Superintendent 

of Police, Rajendra Narain Das told The Hindu that the six policemen were travelling from the police camp 

in Bhopalpatnam to Bhadrakali on “official emergency duties” when they went missing. The men were 

unarmed and were not in uniform. “On the evening of September 19 [Sunday] we received information 

from a villager that three bodies were lying on the roadside. When the bodies were recovered today, they 

were identified as the three missing policemen,” said Mr. Das. Mr. Das said the policemen had been 

stabbed to death. (The Hindu, 22/9/2010) 

‘600 civilian casualties in Jangalmahal’ 

More than 600 people have lost their lives to the Maoist attack in three Jangalmahal districts of Bengal. 

This is according to a report currently being prepared by the State Government and meant for the 

Centre’s perusal. Most affected district in terms of Maoist violence is West Midnapore, preliminary 

findings suggest. Prepared for the benefit of “Assistance to Civilian Victims” project initiated by the 

Central Government the study also tends to include the number of casualties in the Gyaneshwari Express 

accident case. Under the scheme the Central Government provides Rs 3 lakh each to the victims of 

Maoist violence. The respective districts are required to provide the details of the victims along with 

supporting proofs. The State Government has already sent names of 50 victims, including 21 from West 

Midnapore and 15 from Purulia, sources in the State Home Ministry said. A separate list of 96 victims 

from West Midnapore, about 80 from Bankura and Purulia have been prepared, sources said. “The final 

list will be prepared within a few days,” said Purulia SP RK Yadav. According to a Home Ministry official, 

the list of injured includes those killed by Maoists and their supporters, including those from the PCPA. 

“The compensation would come from the Centre and be deposited in the account of the claimant. It would 

be a fixed-deposit account and the Government would provide consultation as to how to use the amount,” 

said a source. (Pioneer, 22/9/2010) 

More bloodshed in Jangalmahal 

There was more bloodshed in the Maoist-hit belt of West Midnapore, with a third school staff being 

gunned down by the ultras in a span of three days. The alleged Red ultras shot dead Srikanta Mandal a 

ministerial staff of Sebayatan Girl’s High School at Radha Nagar village in Jhargram. They shot and 

injured his parents who were said to be in a critical condition. Maoists eliminated Mondal as he was 

actively involved in creating public opinion against the rebels, police officers said. “It seems that the 

Maoists were involved in the killing,” SP Praveen Tripathi said. Villagers came out in hordes and blocked 

roads in protest soon after his killing. Schoolteacher Ananta Mukherjee was gunned down on Tuesday at 

Shilda barely a hundred metres from the scene of the Maoist attack on an EFR camp that claimed 26 

lives in February. Meanwhile, the police arrested four Maoist ultras from Bankura and Asansol, police

sources said. The rebels are also members of People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities. Bankura SP 

P Kumar said, “Three arrested men were identified as Sambhu Hembram, Samay Hembram and Tapan 

Soren.” They belong to the squad founded by slain Maoist leader Sidhu Soren, the founder president of 

PCAPA’s militant wing Sidhu Kanu Gana Militia. The name of another Maoist arrested leader is Khagen 

Hembram. (Pioneer, 23/9/2010) 

Three Naxals, two CRPF men killed in encounters 

The encounter between the security forces and the Maoists, which had started on Saturday at Tirilposh 

on the Odisha-Jharkhand border continued on Sunday and a jawan of the COBRA battalion of the CRPF 

was killed and the dead body of a Maoist was recovered. Meanwhile, two Maoists and a para-military 

official were killed in an encounter between the Maoists and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in 

Monoharpur block of Saranda in West Singhbhum district on Sunday. The encounter took place when the 

security forces were conducting a search operation near Tirulposhi village. The body of the jawan was 

brought to Rourkela for postmortem examination. Meanwhile, a guard of honour was given to the jawan of 

Jharkhand police, who was killed in the gun battle on Saturday and then his body was sent to his native 

place. Western range DIG Yeshwant Jethwa said they are keeping a close watch on the situation. On 

Saturday, while the jawans were carrying out combing operations they had a face-off with the Red rebels 

at Tirilposh and both the sides had exchanged heavy firing, in which two Jharkhand policemen lost their 

lives and an Assistant Commandant of CRPF Nitish Kumar was injured and admitted to the IGH Hospital. 

Six rebels were suspected to be injured in the incident. However, reports said the rebels were divided into 

smaller groups and vanished in the dense Saranda jungles, which is spread over an area of 850 sq km 

across the border of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The jungle has, over a period of time, proved 

an impregnable fortress for the Maoists and number of ammunition dumps and training camps function. 

The rebels have planted mines in the jungles due to which number of police and CRPF personnel have 

been killed. As the rebels are aware of the topography of the region and every nook and corner of the 

jungle, they easily flee from one State to another after attacking the security forces. While it is difficult for 

the security forces to be in hot pursuit due to the fear of being ambushed, said a senior police official. The 

CRPF said the body of a Maoist killed in the in Monoharpur block encounter was recovered. The second 

Maoist’s body is suspected to have been taken away by the rebels. Meanwhile, a BSF helicopter was 

pressed into service in the operation against the rebels in Saranda, and senior CRPF officials, led by 

Inspector General (Operation) DB Sharma, are supervising the operation. The bodies of two policemen 

killed in Saturday’s encounter are being brought to Chaibasa, the district headquarters of West 

Singhbhum, sources said. Kolhan-range Deputy Inspector General of police Naveen Kumar Singh 

confirmed that two Naxals were killed in Sunday’s encounter, while a jawan lost life. The slain jawan 

belonged to the COBRA. The DIG said the fresh attack by Naxals took place when the police and 

paramilitary forces had gone to recover the body of a district police jawan, who was killed in Saturday’s 

encounter at Tirulposhi. The DIG revealed that during the search operation, the police recovered two live 

landmines, and destroyed more than one camp set up by the rebels. But the DIG, who was leading the 

operation, claimed that while penetrating into Tirulposhi, the forces had to face stiff resistance from the 

rebels. “As per our reports, the rebels triggered several landmines between Tirulposhi and Digha since 

Sunday morning. Their move was to irritate us from flushing out the rebels from Tirulposhi,” said Singh. 

The police had conducted a special operation at Saranda’s Monoharpur area on Saturday morning. In the 

operation, a huge number of forces, belonging to CRPF’s Battalion VII and Battalion No 196 participated. 

The Battalion VII was deployed at Patamda and Ghatshila in East Singhbhum district, while Battalion 196 

was posted at Manoharpur. The Kolhan DIG said that the police and para-military forces will continue the 

operation and would heave a sigh of relief only after dislodging the rebels from their area. Maoists have 

been holding training camps and organising meetings-- including veterans coming from far-flung areas -- 

in this zone. (Pioneer, 27/9/2010) 

10 Naxals, 3 policemen killed in Saranda operation 

Even as more than 10 Maoists and three policemen were killed in an anti-Naxal operation in the Saranda 

forest in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district since Saturday, Naxalites blasted the Panchayat Bhawan, 

Anandpur, and a hostel here on Monday morning. The operation was launched jointly by the security 

forces of Jharkhand and Orissa.More than 4,000 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force, 

Jharkhand Jaguar, the STF and the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and two 

helicopters have been deployed. Director-General of Police Neyaz Ahmad said the bodies of some of the 

rebels were recovered. CRPF DIG Banu Pratap Singh said CRPF personnel camped in the Panchayat 

Bhawan and the hostel nearly two months ago. Three cane bombs, two weapons and five grenades were 

recovered from the spot. (The Hindu, 28/9/2010)

Abducted cops: Chhattigarh holds 'secret' talks with Maoists 

With the 48-hour Maoists' deadline set to end on Tuesday evening, a top police source said the 

Chhattisgarh government was holding “secret” talks with the rebels for the safe release of four abducted 

policemen. "The government has established a back-door contact with a section of the military unit of the 

outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). It is holding secret talks with the rebels," a top 

source here at police headquarters told IANS. "We are looking into their (Maoists) demands. We have 

conveyed our intention that deadline should be extended comprehensively, any demand can't be met with 

a gun-loaded trigger put on our abducted cops’ heads," the source added. However, the Bharatiya Janata 

Party (BJP) government is tightlipped over the talk issue and has even refused to have engaged in any 

talks with the guerrillas. Maoists on September 19 abducted seven policemen from the Bhopalpatnam 

area of Bijapur, over 500 km from Raipur, close to the Andhra Pradesh border. Three policemen were 

killed a day later while assistant sub-inspector Sukhram Bhagat, constables B. Toppo, Narendra Bhosle 

and Subhash Ratre were held captive to bargain with the authorities. After a week of uncertainty over the 

fate of the abducted cops, Maoists on Sunday evening set a 48-hour deadline for releasing them. The 

rebels dropped a few handwritten leaflets in Bijapur district's interiors stating their demands. "The Maoists 

have mainly demanded immediate halt of an anti-Maoist drive Green Hunt, release of a few people of four 

villages of Bijapur district arrested on charges of unlawful activities, judicial probe into alleged fake 

encounters and initiating peace talks," state director general of police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan told IANS. 

(AA, 28/9/2010) 

58% in AP say Naxalism is good, finds TOI poll 

A clear 58% majority of those polled in Maoist-dominant areas of AP, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, 

Maharashtra and Orissa said Naxalism had actually been good for their area. India's biggest internal 

security threat, as the Prime Minister famously described it, may be worse than you thought. That's 

because even in Andhra Pradesh, where the battle against the Maoists has apparently been won, it turns 

out that the government is losing the battle for the minds and hearts of the people. It's a debate that's 

been raging within the Congress, and outside it. Should the government adopt a largely law-and-order 

attitude towards the Maoists and deal with them like criminals or should the focus be more on cutting the 

ground from under their feet through a development agenda that wins over the population of the affected 

areas? An exclusive survey of the once Maoist-dominated districts of the Telengana region by IMRB, 

well-known market research organisation, for The Times of India has found that while attitudes towards 

the rebels are ambivalent, the condemnation of the government and its means of tackling the problem is 

quite clear. The findings raise disturbing questions about whether focusing largely on the policing aspects 

of the problem may be a flawed strategy in the long run. They also throw up another poser: Has the battle 

in AP truly been won or can the Maoists stage a comeback in a few years? Tied to this is the question of 

how the Maoists are viewed by the populace of these parts. Are they perceived essentially as a 

bloodthirsty, extortionist bunch or as rebels standing up for people's rights? TOI decided to do an opinion 

poll of the affected areas to find out. The problem, however, was that this was a region where pollsters 

found very difficult to enter. We finally decided to conduct the survey in those areas of Andhra Pradesh 

which were till not too long ago strongholds of the Naxalites but where their activities have been checked. 

The survey was conducted, therefore, in five districts of the Telengana region Adilabad, Nizamabad, 

Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam. These districts were chosen not only because they were till 

recently severely Naxal-affected, but also because of their proximity to current hotbeds in Chattisgarh and 

Maharashtra. To tap into the mood of the aam admi in these areas, the survey was restricted to the not so 

well off socio-economic categories, SEC B and SEC C and to men and women between the ages of 25 

and 50. What we found has come as an eye-opener for us and should be worrying for everybody. The 

state may have won the battle of the guns, but the Maoists are clearly ahead in the perception game. This 

is particularly true in the districts of Warangal and Nizamabad as the accompanying charts show only too 

clearly. The root cause of the disaffection is the overwhelming feeling of neglect of the areas by the 

government. About two-thirds expressed this view and in Warangal the figure was as high as 81%. That, 

you might say, is hardly alarming. Similar figures would probably be thrown up anywhere in India. True. 

But when two-thirds also say that the Maoists are right in choosing the methods they have to highlight the 

neglect, it is difficult to dismiss it as normal. Perhaps the most revealing answers are in response to 

questions on whether the Maoists — still better known as Naxalites in this belt — were good or bad for 

the region and whether their defeat by the AP police has made matters better or worse. Almost 60% said 

the Naxalites were good for the area and only 34% felt life had improved since they were beaten back. As 

for whether exploitation has increased after the Naxalite influence waned, 48% said it had against 38% 

who said it hadn't, the rest offering no opinion. Those answers are buttressed by the responses to three 

other questions. The first of these was on whether the characterization of the Naxals as extortionists and 

mafia was accurate. Two-thirds disagreed. An elaboration of this came in response to a slightly more

open-ended question. Over half said the Naxalites worked for the good of the area, another one-third said 

they had the right intentions but the wrong means. Only 15% were willing to describe them as just 

goondas. Equally importantly, 50% of the respondents felt the Naxalites had forced the government to 

focus on development work in the affected areas. What these responses show is just how negative the 

perception of the government is in these parts. That the people here are not entirely comfortable with 

Naxalite methods is also quite clear. Even a question on what explained their strength in these parts 

showed that very few attributed it to popularity alone, a majority saying either that it was due to fear or 

that it was a combination of approval and fear. That despite this ambivalence there is a sympathetic view 

of the Naxals only betrays the people's desperate search for any means to shake shaking up the state. 

Given these findings it is hardly surprising that killings by Maoists are looked upon more leniently than 

those by the government and that the state's claims about encounters are viewed with extreme suspicion. 

The government may say, and with some justification, that the Maoists represent the biggest threat to 

India's internal security, but what this poll shows is that the aam admi in these parts views government 

apathy as the biggest threat to his wellbeing. The towns in which the poll was conducted were 

Kamareddy in Nizamabad district, Gudi Hathnoor in Adilabad, Sirsilla in Karimnagar, Mahbubabad in 

Warangal and Palwancha in Khammam. A total of 521 people were polled in these five towns, a 

statistically robust sample size. (TOI, 28/9/2010) 

WB: 3 Forward Bloc activists shot dead by Maoists 

Three Forward Bloc activists were shot dead by armed Maoists in Purulia district, police said on Monday. 

A group of about 50 Maoists, armed with sophisticated weapons, raided Chirogora village late Sunday 

night and dragged out the three activists from their houses to a distance and shot them dead, district SP 

Rajesh Jadav said. The deceased were identified as Leru Majhi, Dasrath Majhi, and Choto Majhi, he said. 

The attackers left some leaflets in the area claiming that they were killed as they were "police spies". Joint 

forces and a police team rushed to the village and have started combing operations, the SP said. (IE, 


4 security men killed in naxal ambush 

Two police sub-inspectors and two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed when 

their jeep was targeted by suspected Naxalites on Monday near Perimili village in southern Gadchiroli, 

Maharashtra. “It was a one-man ambush, in the sense someone set off the explosion,” said Additional 

Superintendent of Police Chandrakishore Mina. The incident happened around 4.30 p.m. in the 

jurisdiction of the Perimili police station under the Aheri subdivision in Bhamragarh taluka. Gadchiroli 

police control room told The Hindu over phone that four men were killed in the explosion by Naxalites 

between 4 pm and 4.30 pm on Monday outside Perimili village. They had gone to buy some things at the 

local bazaar and were on their way back when the incident occurred. Those killed are: Maharashtra police 

sub-inspector Shashikant More (31), sub-inspector Mahendra Nalkul (35), Nivruti Yadav (50), CRPF 

inspector and a CRPF constable, Anand Gazge. (The Hindu, 5/10/2010) 

To hijack trucks to stronghold, Naxals build 10-km road in Maharashtra forest 

Weeks after 24 people were arrested in Gadchiroli in connection with the hijacking of a truck laden with 

15.5 tonnes of a potentially explosive chemical, authorities have discovered that Naxalites employed 

hundreds of local residents to build a 10-km long road inside the forest. This exercise went on for about a 

month without attracting the notice of either the police or forest department. The truck was tracked and 

finally hijacked by the Naxalites. Questioning of Naxalites arrested over the past week revealed that they 

were unable to make any use of the chemical. “They did try to blast the chemical using detonators, but it 

did not go off. Finally, they buried it,” sources said. “But the scale of the operation was enormous. At least 

two Central Committee members, whose names have come out in new aliases, supervised the operation. 

Maoist military expert Arjun and Bhupathi, brother of Kishenji who replaced Azad after the latter was killed 

in a police encounter in Andhra Pradesh, were said to have visited the area during the operation,” the 

sources said, adding that “at least two Company dalams from Chhattisgarh and one from Gadchiroli 

participated in the operation”. The road was constructed from the main road between Sawargaon and 

Tawitola, two villages between Dhanora and Murumgaon towns in north Gadchiroli. “It was already like a 

pagdandi (path) which they strengthened. They cut down trees that could have been hurdles. There was 

a dry river bed on the way which they filled with soil. They employed at least three tractors in the 

operation. And they also laid a mock trap on the way to hold off security personnel if they tried to get to 

the spot near Fulkoro village where they dumped the chemical,” said a senior official. It was from Fulkoro 

that police arrested 10 people two days ago along with 10 others from neighbouring Charwahi. Four

persons were arrested earlier from Gurekasa village. (IE, 5/10/2010) 

I will not allow Maoists to spread out: Buddhadeb 

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that Maoists will not be able to fan out their activities in 

West Bengal. Addressing the National Council meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he 

said: “They (the Maoists) are trying to spread from West to East. I will not allow them to spread out.” The 

Chief Minister said this in response to concerns expressed by a top industrialist about the Maoist threat 

perception in the State. Top industrialists of the country were among the participants. Pointing out that the 

Prime Minister had described the Naxal problem as the biggest internal threat before the country, Mr. 

Bhattacharjee said that the Maoist problem was not a continuation of the earlier Naxal problem witnessed 

during the 70s. “That was tackled administratively and politically. This is a new type of movement and 

they do not understand ground-realities. In West Bengal, the problem has spilled over from he 

neighbouring States — Jharkhand, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.” He said that in West Bengal at present 

areas under 28 police stations in three districts— Paschim Medinipur, Purulia and Bankura - have been 

declared as disturbed. Mr. Bhattacharyya made particular mention of the Jindal Steel project at Salboni in 

Pashim Medinipur , which has become inextricably linked with the Maoist problem in West Bengal. “As I 

was returning after the inauguration of the Jindal Steel project, a blast took place and subsequently that 

area got disturbed, but now work is going on and they (Jindals) will complete the boundary-wall by 

December.” The boundary wall around the 4500 acres will be 36-km long. During his speech earlier, he 

said “Singur (the erstwhile site for the mother plant of the Tata Nano project) is not everything. After 

Singur, we have acquired 6,000 acres for a steel plant, and an airport. Things are happening.” He said 

that the State was encouraging the cluster concept for industrial development. (The Hindu, 7/10/2010) 

New CRPF chief claims Maoists enjoy 'urban support' 

NEW DELHI: New CRPF chief K Vijay Kumar on Wednesday said Naxals, who posed a "formidable 

challenge" before security forces, have "urban connections", which provide them logistics and financial 

support. Kumar, who shot to fame as chief of Special Task Force (STF) that had eliminated dreaded 

forest brigand Veerappan in 2004, expressed his views after taking over the reins of the nearly three-lakh 

strong force which is in the thick of action against Maoists in various states. Asked for his opinion on the 

Naxal menace, Kumar said the issue was not related to any one particular place. "It has urban 

connections...in terms of harbouring...in terms of giving logistics...financial support," said Kumar, who took 

over at a time when the CRPF faced a lot of criticism for the number of casualties it suffered due to poor 

handling of its operational matters. On his priorities, Kumar said, "My priorities are to see that things 

(indicating operations and other aspects) going on are more purposeful... also keeping in mind the 

government's view and agenda." Asked if the world's largest paramilitary force will see some structural 

changes with him at the helm now, Kumar replied in the affirmative but added that he could only decide 

on it when he spends some more time in the new assignment. "If any structural changes are required I 

shall take it...all such measures which are within my authority (will be taken)...Something which is not 

within my authority will be addressed to higher authorities", he said. Kumar, whose previous stint was that 

of the director of the Hyderabad-based Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, said the best 

practices and lessons of his earlier operations and stints can always be used to new theatres of work. 

"Lessons which are learnt in one operation can be transferred....but these (Veerappan and anti-naxal 

operations) are different turfs...two different cups of tea," Kumar said at the force headquarters here. 

(TOI, 7/10/2010) 

Maoists kill yet another teacher 

Suspected Maoists shot dead yet another teacher near Jhargram in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur 

district late on Wednesday. Ten teachers and non-teaching staff have fallen victim to Maoist violence 

since January in the district. “Gurucharan Mahato was a teacher at the Bagmari Primary School at 

Sankrail who resided at Bankshol village near Jhargram. A group of assailants abducted him from his 

house on Wednesday night and his bullet-riddled body was found nearby early on Thursday,” District 

Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Verma said on Thursday. In a hand-written poster found at the 

spot, Maoists claimed that Mr. Mahato was involved in spying for the police, Mr. Verma said. Incidentally, 

leader of the Maoist-backed Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee and one of the main 

accused in the Jnaneswari Express sabotage incident Umakanto Mahato, who was killed in an encounter 

on August 27, also resided in the same village. The police suspect that the killing of Gurucharan Mahato 

might be the result of Maoists suspecting his role in Umakanto Mahato's death. Meanwhile, suspected 

rebels opened fire on security forces in the Lakhanpur forest in the district's Salboni region early on 

Thursday. Several landmines, firearms and ammunition were recovered, but no arrests were made, Mr. 

Verma said. “The exchange of fire did not last long as the Maoists retreated. Four landmines, one 8 mm

pistol, two AK-47 magazines, 22 rounds of AK-47 rifle cartridges and some explosives were recovered,” 

he said. (The Hindu, 8/10/2010) 

Maoists being trained in Nepal, Centre warns states 

The Centre has warned all the Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected states of a turn in the fight against 

Naxalites — hundreds of Maoists being trained in Nepal by the People’s Liberation Army of Nepal 

Maoists and being supervised by terrorists from Lashkar-e-Toiba. In an October 5 letter to chief 

secretaries and DGPs of the eight LWE-affected states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, 

Chhattisgarh, MP, Andhra Pradesh and UP, the Home Ministry (MHA) gave the details of the movement 

of Maoists from India to Nepal and vice-versa, and requested the respective state governments to be 

alert. The MHA note, accessed by The Indian Express, says that on June 28 five Maoists from Andhra 

Pradesh who were led by Comrade Pankaj from Bihar crossed over to Malangwa in Nepal and joined 20 

trainees undergoing training by the PLA. It also said it had information regarding 234 Maoists training in 

Nepal under supervision of Naxalite leaders like Vinod Gurung, Prakash Mahato, and LeT members like 

Latif Khan from Karachi and Razzaq Ansari. “I am not aware of such things (training of Indian Maoists by 

Nepalese Maoists). But in any case we are on guard,” state Home Secretary G D Gautama said. (IE, 


Injured tribal boy dies; Maha Naxal attack toll rises to 5 

The death toll in Friday's Naxal attack in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district has gone up to five with an 

injured tribal boy succumbing in a private nursing home here early today, police said. Mukesh Potavi (6) 

was among the 10 students of `Ashram Shala' (tribal school) at Sawargaon village in Dhanora taluka who 

suffered injuries when the Maoists hurled explosives near the institute. Four persons - two students, a 

female cook and a villager - were killed on Friday, they said. Among the injured students, four, including 

Potavi, were shifted to General Hospital in Gadchiroli. He was later taken to Nagpur, where he breathed 

his last, police added. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil arrived here this morning and 

later left for Gadchiroli, the worst Naxal affected district in Maharashtra. (IE, 9/10/2010) 

Re-work blueprint for development of Naxal dists, PM tells Plan panel 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rejected the Planning Commission’s Integrated Action Plan (IAP) to 

promote all-round development in the districts affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) on the ground that 

it is not “implementable”. The Plan panel had prepared a Rs 13,742-crore IAP to execute development 

projects in these 60 districts across nine states. The plan was vetted by Finance Minister Pranab 

Mukherjee before it was submitted to the PM. But Singh is unhappy with the roadmap, and has pointed 

out that it needs more clarity on how it could be implemented effectively. Asking the Plan panel to re-work 

the blueprint in an “implementable format”, the PMO has said the IAP must be more focussed to promote 

development and inclusiveness, and must ensure utilisation of funds in a target-oriented manner. The IAP 

entailed strengthening village-level bodies to implement development work. In the first two years, the 

districts were to get Rs 3,000 crore to strengthen the Panchayati Raj institutions, while Rs 9,000 crore 

would be provided in the next two years to build schools, roads and sanitation facilities. The PMO sought 

to know how the IAP would strengthen the Panchayati Raj institutions. Another concern was the need to 

identify agencies to implement the projects to ensure that the funds achieve the intended objectives. “We 

are working on it as per the PMO’s directions,” said an official. The PMO’s opinion comes amidst the 

recent observations of Chief Ministers of the LWE states who told the National Development Council that 

more districts, especially the vulnerable ones, should be included under the ambit of the IAP. Some CMs 

have favoured proper implementation of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996 

and related Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006 to give forest-dwellers 

rights over minor forest produce. Within the Planning Commission, there was a growing feeling that it 

should formulate an independent mechanism to route the funds and routinely monitor the development 

process. So the Commission would have to factor in all these issues when it finalises a revised blueprint 

and prepares to seek the Cabinet’s nod. (IE, 18/10/2010) 

Did Governors’ ignorance fan Maoists? 

BHOPAL, 18 OCT: Governors of states with scheduled tribal areas had been largely ignorant of their 

powers under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution and may through this ignorance have helped 

perpetuate tribal unrest, leading to the Maoist insurgency and the country’s greatest internal security 

problem. Documents accessed by The Statesman show that those appointed to uphold the Constitution 

may until recently have had no idea about their constitutional role. The cumulative result of neglect over

decades has been widespread exploitation and tribal unrest. Last June, home minister Mr P 

Chidambaram wrote to selected Governors about their powers in areas defined by the Fifth Schedule and 

enclosed a 15-page legal opinion from Attorney General Mr GE Vahanvati. Mr Vahanvati’s opinion reaffirms 

the discretionary powers of the Governor and the executive power of the Union in Fifth Schedule 

areas as per the Constitution. The opinion differentiates between clause 5(1), where the Governor has 

powers to amend or repeal any State or Central Act in a Fifth Schedule area, with clause 5(2), where the 

Governor needs to consult the Tribal Advisory Council and obtain the assent of the President in order to 

pass a regulation. Referring to the legal opinion, the home minister wrote: “We hope ambiguity over 

power of Governors under 5th Schedule read with Article 244 of the Constitution of India is put to rest. 

This provision may be leveraged for improving governance and ensuring more effective targeting of tribal 

development projects.” The last time an Attorney-General’s legal opinion was sought for Fifth Schedule 

areas was during the NDA regime, when, stung by the Samata judgement, where the Supreme Court 

struck down the transfer of land in scheduled areas for mining in Andhra Pradesh, the Union ministry of 

mines tried to give fillip to mining by pushing for amendments to the schedule. But, what, in the present 

case, was the confusion about the most basic Fifth Schedule powers of the Governor six decades after 

the Constitution’s adoption? By 2008, it appears, the Union had begun to register the administrative 

oversight behind tribal unrest. It was around this time that the Planning Commission Mungekar 

Committee report on ‘Standards and Administration in the Scheduled Areas’ was being finalised, which 

exposed the ways in which Governors and the Union have for decades failed central Indian tribes. “There 

is no realisation that a great damage has been done when general laws first flooded tribal areas in 1950 

with no mechanism for their review. It is a continuing problem, which is not even acknowledged. There is 

a need to stop this practice and to consciously adapt the laws to the scheduled areas,” stated the 

Mungekar Committee report. Matters came to a head in the September 2008 conference of Governors, 

where ex-President Abdul Kalam suggested that legal opinion be sought. Dr Kalam noted that “in view of 

the provisions under Fifth Schedule there is a feeling in certain quarters that the Governor should play a 

pro-active role. On the other hand, it is understood that court judgements and debates in the Constituent 

Assembly provide that the Governor is bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers in the exercise of 

his powers under the Fifth Schedule. This causes considerable uncertainty.” The “considerable 

uncertainty” cited by Dr Kalam contrasted with what is clearly delineated in the Constitution and the 

debates preceding its adoption. The Attorney General has stated that even Article 163 (1) & (2) of the 

Constitution confers certain discretionary powers to Governors (Statesman, 19/10/2010) 

Woman burnt alive for taking on Maoists 

Husband, son fell to outlaws earlier. In yet another spine-chilling incident of Red terror, the Maoists 

operating in the Jangalmahal area burnt alive a woman after she tried to organise villagers to revolt 

against them. Not only this, the panic-stricken villagers were prevented from claiming and cremating the 

body which kept rotting for four days. A police officer at Jhargram, a police district under the West 

Midnapore district, told The Pioneer on Monday that the police would be able to ascertain whether the 

woman was killed before being set afire only when more evidence was collected. “Names of the villagers 

cannot be shared. But most of them have conceded that a group of the PCPA and Maoist extremists 

attacked Jayanti, and then raped and burnt her alive,” he said. The police suspected the woman was 

murdered between October 8 and 9. The body was, however, recovered only three days later, when the 

villagers “requested the local PCPA leaders to let the body be taken for funeral”, said a senior area police 

officer. The incident was brought to the notice of the police only on October 15, officials said. “An armed 

posse of Maoists raided the house of the victim, Jayanti Mantri, in Bagh Jhampa village in Aguibani area 

of Jhargram on October 8 when she was beaten, raped and then burnt,” the police quoted locals as 

saying. Incidentally Jayanti’s husband Gopal and son Rajib, both local CPI(M) members and marginal 

farmers, were murdered in front of her barely a few weeks before she was herself eliminated. She was 

also a witness to the murder of Tapan Mahato, another local CPI(M) leader, officials said. With her death, 

the police have lost a prime witness in the earlier murder cases, senior officials claimed. According to the 

villagers who were still under the spell of terror, particularly because Aguibani-Bagh Jhampa has not yet 

been completely sanitised by the security forces, the victim’s husband and son had been murdered by the 

Red terrorists on August 27. “Then they continued to extract money from her. She gave them the money 

but refused to submit completely to the Maoists and secretly campaigned against them. This infuriated 

the outlaws and they finally attacked her hut and killed her,” the police, quoting the villagers, said. The 

body was allowed to rot for three-four days and the villagers had to literally fall at the feet of the PCPA 

leaders to let them dispose of the corpse lest it started an outbreak of diseases. “When the villagers 

recovered the badly burnt body, it was in a highly decomposed state,” police officials said. Jhargram SP 

PK Tripathi said investigations were on and the police were collecting more evidence to ensure what 

exactly had happened on the fateful night. On August 2, the Maoists had bushwhacked Chabi Mahato, an

angawari woman from Bhangabandh in Salboni area of West Midnapore, subjected her to gangrape and 

then buried her alive. The ferocity of the medieval-type ‘punishment’ was such and its scary impact so 

complete that the few villagers who saw this cruel incident take place kept it to themselves, even as the 

teenaged children of the victim ran from pillar to post in search of their mother. While Pintu Mahato led 

the Bhangabandh attack, slain Maoist leader Umakanto Mahato of the Gyaneswari infamy had eliminated 

Jayanti’s husband and son. Aguibani has seen 28 murders in the past one year alone, police said. 


Maoist dies in fierce gun battle 

A day after the Maoists triggered a landmine blast in the insurgency-hit Malkangiri district, the security 

forces and the ultras had a face-off in K Balang region of Sundargarh district. Police sources said in the 

one-hour-long gun battle at Rengada under K Balang police station between the two sides an ultra 

identified as Junus Barla of Jharkhand was killed, while some others were suspected to have been 

injured or captured. The ultras tried to flee with the body of their slain comrade but failed. The police 

recovered some bullets from the site of the encounter. There were no reports of any casualties or injuries 

to the security forces. A search operation is on out to catch the fleeing Maoists. The Maoists have a 

number of times targeted the infrastructure in the area including schools, hospitals and literally reduced 

them to rubble after the local villagers under K Balang police station supported the police in their fight 

against the Maoists. Following the incidents people of the region have taken shelter near the K Balang 

police station for months. Recently some villagers met the Rourkela Superintendent of Police and sought 

protection and employment. They alleged that they were caught in the cross-fire between the two warring 

sides. While the police often suspected them of harbouring the Naxals, the ultras were harassing them for 

food and shelter. However, locals alleged that the police has not been able to encash on their support 

and launched a successful offensive targeting the Maoists and therefore they are forced to take on the 

Maoists with their traditional and primitive weapons. The lackadaisical district administration is yet to 

restore the damaged infrastructure and basic necessities like education and healthcare still elude the 

locals Meanwhile, in the Maoist citadel of Malkangiri, the security forces launched intensive combing 

operations after a landmine blast was triggered near a BSF camp. The locals alleged that the security 

forces combing operation was being carried out only in the urban pockets, while the Maoists were still a 

dominant force in the interiors. They further said if the Maoists had managed to inflict any casualties on 

the well-trained BSF it would have further boosted their morale and acted as a dampener for the other 

forces combating them. (Pioneer, 20/10/2010) 

797 policemen died on duty in one year 

NEW DELHI: Around 800 police and para-military personnel sacrificed their lives in the past one year 

during operations or attacks on them with CRPF topping the list with 191 such cases. A total of 797 

personnel from state police and para-military forces like BSF, CRPF and NSG were killed during a period 

from September 1, 2009 and August 31 this year. CRPF, which is in the forefront of anti-Naxal 

operations, topped the list of casualties with 191 which included 76 personnel who laid their lives in 

Chhattisgarh's Dantewada. Uttar Pradesh and BSF followed CRPF in casualties with 99 and 64 cases 

respectively. During 2008 September and August last year, the police forces lost 841 lives with UP 

topping the list with 107 cases followed by CRPF (81) and BSF (72). Punjab Police lost 57 policemen 

during the period while Naxal-affected state Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh had 43 and 21 casualties 

respectively. The figures for Jammu and Kashmir (49), West Bengal (48), SSB (29), RPF (18), CISF (8) 

and ITBP (6). A Commemoration day was on Thursday observed by various police organisations in the 

national capital. Delhi Police lost nine police officers during the period. Special Commissioner 

(Administration) Neeraj Kumar took the salute on the occasion as Commissioner Y S Dadwal is on leave 

till next Monday. Twenty-five policemen died in Orissa while the figure was nine for Karnataka, 

Uttarakhand (18), Bihar (16), Manipur (10), Madhya Pradesh (8), Nagaland (5) and Assam (1). The 

National Security Guards lost five of their sharpshooters while Rajasthan Police lost one during the 

period. (TOI, 21/10/2010) 

Six Maoists, student arrested in Odisha; guns, ammo seized 

The Gajapati police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), during joint combing operations on 

Saturday, arrested three Maoists in the Bugurpunka jungles under Adaba block. Among the arrested 

Maoists is a + 3 science student of the autonomous Khalikote College. Speaking at a Press conference 

here on Sunday, district Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Arora said the police have seized three 

countrymade guns, 10 pairs of Maoist fatigues, two pairs of shoes and a tarpaulin. The accused have 

been identified as Mutta Majhi (20) of Baligudi village, Afira Bada Majhi of Safalaguda village and the 

student Ajit Badamajhi (20) of Safalguda village. The trio was involved in the Katingia police outpost blast

in Kandhamal district and the Panigandha beat house explosion, said SP Arora. Besides torching the 

Katingia police outpost in Kandhamal, the trio was also allegedly involved in the blasting of a forest beat 

house at Paniganda in Gajapati district in 2009. They are being thoroughly grilled for further information 

on them and later will be forwarded to court, said the SP. In the other incident, four Maoist sympathisers, 

who were providing logistiocal support and have been supplying material like detonators, gelatin, steel 

containers, electric wire and police uniforms to Maoists were arrested from Bisra town in Sundargarh 

district after a tip-off. Twenty detonators, gelatin, six tiffin bombs, one bundle of wire and a pair of Maoist 

uniforms were seized from them. Rourkela SP Diptesh Patnaik said besides supplying arms and 

explosives they were providing medicine and food to the Maoists in the Saranda jungle and they were in 

the most wanted list. The accused have been identified as brothers Bikash Saha, Bibek Saha, Babulu 

and another person. About a month ago, two businessmen from Bisra were arrested while transporting 

clothes, dress and rations for the Maoists. (Pioneer, 25/10/2010) 

Now Maoists recruiting cadre from college campuses 

The Maoists who had earlier concentrated on lack of development in tribal areas and managed to get a 

few of their cadre from there, now seem to have shifted to college campuses which was proved with the 

arrest of a Chemistry (Honours) student of Khalikote College, Afira Badamajhi by the Gajapati police on 

Sunday. While the police had said he was involved in the Katingia police outpost blast in Kandhamal 

district and the Paniganda beat house explosion, college authorities said they had no idea about the 

activities of Afira, who is an average student scoring 53 per cent marks in the third semester and had 

nearly 50 per cent attendance. However, the student’s family claimed due to the threats from the Maoists 

he had joined their fold and he was innocent. After the arrest, Higher Education Minister Debi Prasad 

Mishra while speaking to a television channel said a mechanism would be initiated to keep a tab on the 

students from the Maoist infested areas after discussions with the police and intelligence agencies even 

though it was a difficult proposition. Earlier there were reports of the Maoists roping in school students 

particularly in the insurgency-hit Malkangiri district. The students were mainly used to provide information 

about the security forces but the police have denied the reports and said it was an ‘exaggeration’. 

Meanwhile, the police on Monday claimed to have arrested a Maoist from Lacchipeta village under MV-79 

police station in a joint raid with the Special Operations Group (SOG). He has been identified as Pabitra 

Madi and is said to be a member of the Motu Dalam. He was involved in the panchayat office blast in 

Malabaram gram panchayat and the attack on a SPO in MV-79, said Malkangiri police station Inspectorin-Charge 

Ramakrushna Pati. (Pioneer, 26/10/2010) 

‘Centre not providing enough personnel to combat Maoists’ 

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Umashankar Gupta had demanded from Union Home Minister 

Chidambaram to include eight districts bordering Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh under Security Related 

Expenditure (SRI) Scheme to combat the terrorist activities of the Maoists and their organisations. The 

same demand was made at the earlier meeting of the Central Region Council. But, so far, only one 

district has been included. In the remaining seven districts activities of the Maoist terrorist outfits are 

increasing. At the same time, Gupta said, industrial development in these districts is being picked up. The 

Union Home Ministry has been informed several times about the increased Maoist activities in these 

seven districts. Gupta was participating at the 19th meeting of the Central Region Council held here on 

Wednesday at the Vigyan Bhavan. The meeting was chaired by Union Home Minister Chidambaram. 

State Finance Minister Raghavji also attended the meeting. Gupta invited the attention of the Union Home 

Minister to the fact that six modules of ISI have been caught in the State. Looking into the increased 

activities of Maoist terrorists in the state, to improve the professional acumen of the State policemen, 

arrangement for their training in training schools of Intelligence Bureau should be made so that they will 

become expert in collecting intelligence information. The State Government has constituted Anti-Terrorist 

Squad. He demanded the Central Government to provide necessary funds and infrastructure for the Anti- 

Terrorist Squad. Likewise, for collecting information about activities of the Maoists, separate cell has been 

constituted. This cell is giving good results. He said that during the next 11 years, 25,000 additional posts 

will be created in the State police. With a view to increase police force according to ratio of population, 

6,255 new posts have been created in the State police. Recruitment on these posts would be made soon, 

he said. (Pioneer, 28/10/2010) 

Lifer for ex-IGP for Maoist’s murder 

The Special CBI Court in Kochi on Thursday sentenced former Inspector General of Police K Lakshmana

to life imprisonment in the case relating to the murder of Naxalite leader A Varghese over forty years ago. 

Lakshmana, now in his mid-70s, was also slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000. Awarding the punishment, 

Judge S Vijayakumar, who had the other day convicted Lakshmana, second accused in the case, said 

that Varghese was shot to death by the police after capture and that he was not killed in encounter. 

Varghese was killed on February 18, 1970 in the forests of Thirunelli, Wayanad. The judge had acquitted 

the third accused, former DGP P Vijayan, giving him the benefit of doubt. The first accused, former CRPF 

constable Ramachandran Nair who had shot Varghese to death on the orders of his superiors including 

Lakshmana, died in 2006. The CBI took over the probe into the killing in 1998 on a Kerala High Court 

directive. “No more evidence is needed. It is proved beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt that 

Varghese, who was caught hold of live, was brutally killed by the first accused who was a stooge at the 

hands of Lakshmana who on his order brought about his plan,” the judge said in the verdict. The public 

prosecutor had requested the court to give the accused the maximum punishment as it was one of the 

rarest of the rare cases, an argument with which the judge disagreed. However, he agreed that it was a 

case of brutality and therefore was awarding punishment in that consideration. . The judge said that no 

investigation agency, including the police, had the authority to award punishment to people. Their duty 

was to investigate cases and bring the culprits before the courts, he said. What had happened in the case 

of Varghese was a violation of democratic principles, he pointed out. Lakshmana had pleaded before the 

court for maximum leniency as he was in his seventies and had requested that he be sent to Central 

Prison, Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram. The killing of Varghese was seen as an “encounter death” till 

1998 when Ramachandran Nair came out with the revelation that he had shot Varghese dead at point 

blank on the orders of his superiors. Nair had also submitted an affidavit stating this. Rights organizations 

and political activists had sought reopening of the case and a detailed investigation by the CBI after the 

revelations by Nair, who had said that he revealed the truth to clear his conscience. Nair had written an 

autobiography giving the details of the circumstances under which he had shot Varghese to death. 

Varghese, hailing from Ernakulam district, had migrated to Wayanad in his childhood along with his 

family. After school, he became active in the CPI(M). However, during Kerala’s Naxalite years of late 

1960s, he left the CPI(M) to become a campaigner of the Naxalite outfit, CPI(ML). (Pioneer, 29/10/2010) 

Central scheme for youth in Naxal-hit districts 

In an attempt to prevent adolescents and youth from picking up guns, the Centre will soon announce a 

special initiative to protect children's rights and mobilise communities through local youth volunteers or 

child defenders in the areas affected by armed conflict, particularly the Naxal districts. The “Bal Bandhu 

Scheme for Protection of Children's Rights in Areas of Civil Unrest” is aimed at bringing stability in the 

lives of children and, in the process, ensure their entitlements to protection, health, nutrition, sanitation, 

education and safety are fulfilled. This scheme is expected to enhance democracy through community 

participation and action, and renew hope in harmonising society and stabilising lives while a child's wellbeing 

becomes the focus of all action in the areas. First phase In the first phase, the scheme will be 

implemented in Kokrajhar, Chirang, North Cachar Hills (Assam), Khammam (Andhra Pradesh), Gadchiroli 

(Maharashtra), Jamui, Rohtas, East Champaran and Sheohar (Bihar) and Dantewada (Chhattisgarh). 

While the scheme has been drafted by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, it will be implemented 

by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). Child defenders The mandate of 

the child defenders will be to trace all adolescent boys and girls who are usually missing in these areas 

and creating an atmosphere to bring them back, community participation in repairing and reviving 

schools, enrolling children, and petitions to block and district for teachers and infrastructure. They will also 

monitor children's nutrition and health needs through anganwadi centres. Resource persons An advisory 

committee at the NCPCR will identify resource persons who would start interaction with local youths, 

official, community and gram panchayats and involve them in discussions and some do-able local 

actions. In about a month, they will be expected to have inspired 20-30 local youths who would volunteer 

to take part in the programme. From these volunteers, youths with leadership qualities and community 

acceptance will be selected as ‘Bal Bandhus'. No formal academic qualification would be necessary for 

the purpose. The Bal Bandhus will be given an honorarium that would be credited into their bank or post 

office account. Funds for the scheme will come from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. 


Abducted SPO killed, 5 Maoists arrested in Chhattisgarh 

An abducted Special Police Officer (SPO) was killed by Maoists while five ultras arrested in two incidents 

in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said. "Irpa Dinesh (the SPO) was strangulated to death by the 

Maoists at Basaguda busti in the district," Additional Superintendent of Police (Bijapur) B P S Rajbhanu 

told PTI over the phone. The wounded body of the officer, who was abducted by the Maoists on October

22, was found in the area, he said. The body has been sent to the victim's family, the ASP said, adding 

that police teams have been dispatched in the area. In an another incident, five Maoists were arrested 

and sharp-edged weapons seized in the same district. Police arrested them after they started to flee after 

noticing the personnel in the jungle at Bhatwar and Dhinduri villages, Rajbhanu said. (IE, 1/11/2010) 

Maoist trigger blasts to protest Obama visit 

Nov 8: Maoists triggered blasts at a railway station and two government buildings in Jharkhand while 

enforcing a shutdown to protest US President Barack Obama's India visit, police said Monday. The rebels 

also abducted a railway official. Maoist guerrillas blasted a portion of Satbahani railway station in 

Palamau district, some 170 km from Ranchi, late Sunday and kidnapped the station manager, a police 

official said. In a separate incident, the rebels triggered blasts using dynamites at panchayat buildings in 

Rajhara village of Vishrampur block and Basna village of Nava block in Palamau. No one was injured in 

both the attacks. The outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has called a 24-hour 

shutdown from Sunday midnight till Monday midnight to protest Obama's four-day India visit. Heavy 

security arrangements have been made in many parts of the state in the wake of the shutdown. As a 

precautionary measure, five trains have been cancelled on Coal Indian Cord (CIC) section and the route 

of four trains have been changed by railway authorities. (AA, 08/11/2010) 

Cops kill four Maoists in Orissa 

BHUBANESWAR/ KORAPUT: As CRPF boss K Vijay Kumar toured extremism-hit Rayagada district to 

finetune operational strategies, security forces on Thursday killed at least four Red rebels inside a dense 

forest in Malkangiri district in southern Orissa. Police said the four, who remain to be identified, were 

gunned down during a gun-battle with left wing ultras. Cops, belonging to the District Voluntary Force 

(DVF), swooped on a Maoist camp and shot down the radicals, police said. No injury or casualty was 

reported from the police side. "We have recovered the bodies of the Maoists who were killed during the 

gun-battle. We have sent those for autopsy," said SDPO (Malkangiri) Avinash Kumar. "Those killed are 

yet to be identified. Preliminary investigation indicates the deceased belong to Kalimela area in 

Malkangiri. All our men are safe," he added. Acting on a tip-off, a team of DVF raided the extremists' 

camp, situated about 30 km from the district headquarter town of Malkangiri, under Orkel police station 

limits, in the wee hours of Thursday. Police said they fired in retaliation after the ultras started firing at 

them. The slain ultras were aged between 18 and 25 years. "We had intelligence inputs regarding the 

movement of a group of Maoists near Nuaguda. There were around 12 Maoists in the camp. The 

exchange of fire began at about 5 am and continued for an hour. Several rounds were fired from both 

sides. While four rebels were killed on the spot, others managed to flee under the cover of darkness," 

Kumar claimed. "Blood trails at the spot suggest that some rebels might have sustained bullet injuries. 

We have intensified our operation in the area and launched a manhunt for the rebels who escaped," he 

added. Police said they had recovered four guns, three grenades and Maoist belongings including kit 

bags, literature and medicines from the spot. Based on the preliminary investigations, police said there 

was no Maoist leader from other states in the camp. "The Red rebels might have organized the camp to 

plant explosives under the nearby roads," Kumar said. Cops also suspect that the group of rebels 

intended to form a guerrilla force of young ultras to intensify activities in the region. Meanwhile, the CRPF 

director general said local operational details have to be worked out by local commanders. After making a 

ground level assessment of anti-Maoist operations in Rayagada, Kumar called on chief minister Naveen 

Patnaik before wrapping up his two-day trip to the state. He described interactions between CRPF and 

state police as "positive" and informed that further discussions would take place in course of time. (TOI, 


Maoists gun down two unidentified persons in Nabarangpur 

Maoists again went on the rampage and killed two unidentified persons in Nabaranpur district and also 

triggered a landmine blast extensively damaging a girl's school in Malkangiri district on Monday to protest 

the visit of US President Barack Obama on Monday. The Maoists struck in Timanpur village under 

Raighar police station and shot dead two unidentified persons who were on their way by motor bike 

towards Binayapur (about 15 km away from Raighar. Later, the Maoists also set on fire the two motor 

bikes. A poster found near the body of the victims stated they meted out death sentence to the duo, as 

they were involved in different anti-social activities and were extorting money in the name of Maoists. 

They also gave the names of five persons Krushna Jani, Ladal Jani, Jhadang Jani, Sahadeb Jani and 

Jagat Jani as in their hit list alleging them of involvement in similar activities. As the villagers are in a state 

of shock, nobody is ready to reveal anything about the incident, said a local resident Jogaindar Prasad 

Rao. The police have rushed to the spot and started investigations, informed Raighar police station

Inspector-In-Charge Siba Ram Nayak. Earlier also the Maoists had killed two persons in this village in 

similar fashion. A few days back the Maoists had killed an assistant (Supervisor) of a contractor after 

branding him as police informer at Sambalpur village near Kundei under Raighar block. Meanwhile, in the 

wee hours of Monday about 50 to 60 armed Maoists barged into Godamkonda village under Kalimela 

block in Malkangiri district and triggered a landmine blast to extensively damage the SC and ST Girl's 

High School. The teachers present were asked to go out and after that the Maoists blasted the building. 

Three rooms were completely destroyed in the explosion. The Maoists also felled eight huge trees in 

Govindapalli Ghat due to which communications between Malakangiri and Jeypore in Koraput district 

have been disrupted since morning. Some posters have been put up neat the spot which stated this has 

been done to protest the visit of US President Barack Obama. The BSF and the police are moving about 

in the area cautiously as they fear landmines might have been planted on the road to target them. Efforts 

are being made to remove the blockade as soon as possible, said SDPO Avinash Kumar. In another 

incident the Similiguda police arrested two Maoist sympathisers near a culvert at Dudhari, about 30 km 

from the Koraput district headquarters. District Superintendent of Police Anup Kumar Sahu informed that 

two youth Suraj Desari (25) and Raiman Sisa (17) were waiting near a culvert at Dudhari near Semiliguda 

to receive explosive material from a contractor for being supplied to the Maoists. Getting information from 

some reliable source the police headed by Semiliguda PS IIC, Sarat Kumar Sahu rushed to the spot and 

arrested these youth who started to run away seeing the police vehicle. On investigation they revealed 

that on the direction of Maiost leader Ghasi they were engaged in receiving the explosive material from a 

contractor. The SP informed Raiman Sisa(17) was a Class IX student of Renga high school, police 

sources said. "Semiliguda Police seized one Bolero jeep bearing number OR 10B 1447, 206 gelatin 

sticks, 50 detonators and around one quintal explosive material from the Maoists and further investigation 

are going on" said the SP. In another incident in Sundargarh district, the CRPF and Special Operations 

Group during combing operations in the Saranda jungle arrested four Maoists ands seized four landmines 

and some explosive material. Similarly, in Keonjhar district two Maoists were arrested in Keonjhar district 

and a gun and some explosives were seized. (Pioneer, 09/11/2010) 

NDFB massacres 15 in separate attacks 

In what has been called revenge killing, the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland on Monday 

massacred at least 15 people, mostly Hindi and Bengali speaking, in four separate attacks in Northern 

Assam’s Sonitpur district. The incident came close on the heels of killing of a hardcore NDFB rebel in an 

encounter by security forces in the same district on Monday morning. The outfit in a categorical threat had 

warned to retaliate the killing of every NDFB militant by security forces by killing 20 civilians. Security 

forces had killed one NDFB cadre Maheswar Basumatary in Batasipur area of Sonitpur district earlier on 

Monday and the killing spree by the outfit is being seen as a move to avenge it. In the first incident near 

Arunachal Pradesh border, at least seven passengers of an Arunachal Pradesh-bound bus were gunned 

down by NDFB militants at Doimara, under Itakhola police outpost, at about 4.45 pm. The bus was going 

from Tezpur to Seijosa, in Arunachal’s East Kameng district. Security sources said that heavily armed 

NDFB rebels opened fire on the bus, forcing the driver to bring it to a halt. The militants then separated 

the Hindi-speaking, Arunachal government employees in the bus and herded them few metres away from 

the bus and shot them down. Seven bodies were recovered from the spot, the police said. The second 

incident took place near Batashipur railway station in the same district. Six heavily armed NDFB rebels 

came on a motorcycle and opened indiscriminate fire on a passenger bus killing five people, including a 

woman, on the spot. In a similar offensive, NDFB rebels shot at two Assamese people who were said to 

have succumbed to the bullet injuries while on way to hospital. The fourth incident was reported from 

Tamulpur in Bakhsa district where heavily armed NDFB militant entered the house of Mohan Das and 

gunned down two male members of the family and wounded three others. Security sources referring the 

eyewitness accounts of the first incident said that victims were identified before being gunned down by 

NDFB rebels. Meanwhile, two powerful bombs were recovered from a Guwahati-bound bus at Amingaon 

area, on the outskirts of Guwahati. The killing spree is being seen as execution of a warning by the NDFB 

on November one that the outfit will kill 20 “Indian” civilians and security forces to avenge death of any 

innocent Bodo in “fake encounters”. In an emailed statement to the media, NDFB ‘deputy chief’ self-styled 

lieutenant B. Jwngkhang had said, “From today onwards, if any innocent Bodo/NDFB cadres is killed in 

the name of fake encounters, then the Boroland Army, NDFB, will take action against any Indian.” The 

NDFB offensive has also caught the security force off guard as they underestimated the threat of NDFB 

rebels having domination in Northern Assam’s Sonitpur district where the mayhem took place. (AA, 

09/11/2010)

577 civilians, 260 securitymen killed in Maoist violence in 2010 

A total of 577 civilians have been killed while more than 260 security forces personnel lost their lives 

across the country in Naxal violence this year. During the same period, 137 Maoists were killed with the 

maximum of them in Chhattisgarh (72) followed by West Bengal (37) and Jharkhand (12). The 

information, updated till October, was given by Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken through a 

written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The maximum number of civilians was killed in West Bengal 

(185), Chhattisgarh (143), Jharkhand (112) and Bihar (48) amongst others. Chhattisgarh accounted for 

the maximum number of casualties for security forces personnel with 163 casualties, while West Bengal 

(34) and Jharkhand (22) were the other States where the forces lost the most number of their troops. 

“Sixty-nine development schemes of various Ministries of Government of India are being implemented for 

comprehensive development of Naxal-affected areas in the country...the Planning Commission has been 

monitoring progress of the development initiatives in 35 Left Wing extremist-affected districts of the 

Central Government’s flagship programmes,” Maken said. (Pioneer, 1`0/11/2010) 

Maoist arrested from Trinamool leader's car 

A Maoist was on Tuesday arrested from a car of a local Trinamool Congress leader in West Midnapore 

district, providing further ammunition to CPI (M) to attack TMC for having an alleged nexus with the 

Naxals. Acting on a tip off, the joint forces intercepted the car of Trinamool's Salboni block president 

Nepal Singh at Patharkumkumi and arrested an alleged Maoist squad member Kanchan Deb Singh, 

Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Verma said. Singh, who belongs to Madhupur area under Salboni 

police station, already faces charges of murder and arson, he said. "There are at least 15 to 20 cases 

against Singh, including double and triple murders. He was also responsible for the destruction of 

Kalaimuri camp of the joint forces, last year," Verma said. His brother Hemant Deb Singh, a Maoist squad 

member, was killed in an encounter with the joint forces last year, the SP said. Trinamool District 

President Pranab Basu, however, disputed the claim of the police that Singh was a Maoist. He claimed 

that Singh, who was earlier arrested by the Assam police, was on bail and had left the ultra camp. The 

accused was being driven to a meeting by Nepal Singh, when he wasv arrested, he said. "He is not a 

criminal now and was arrested by mistake by the police," Basu said. (IE, 10/11/2010) 

Joining ‘Jensena’ is only way to save your lives! 

Despite the tall claim of the Jharkhand Police and Central Reserve Police Force, outlawed CPI(Maoist) 

again proved their strong presence by pasting hundreds of ‘Naxal Posters’ in town at Tupkadih under 

Jaridhh police station about 15 kms from Bokaro district headquarters on Wednesday night. Opposing the 

operation ‘Green Hunt’ and branding as a heinous act, Naxal given a strong threat (through the posters) 

to cops and common people and asked them to join hands with their party- Jansena. “Joining Jensena is 

the only way — to save their lives”— written on the posters. According to the local resident about hundred 

of extremists came in the Wednesday midnight and pasted posters in the mid town. “Early morning we 

saw the posters,” said a resident. Though it’s only in the last few months that the brutality of Naxal 

violence has become evident in a big way, the fact is that more people have been dying to the bullets of 

Maoists every year in India than terrorists ever killed in any single year. In the year between 2004 and 

2008, the Naxalites had killed about 500 civilians every year which rose to 591 in 2009. In just the first six 

months of this year, 325 civilians have been killed in Naxal violence. And despite the government’s best 

efforts, the Naxalite groups only seem to be gaining in strength and spreading out to new areas, official 

sources told. According to the Minister of State for Home Affairs’ records - A total of 577 civilians have 

been killed while more than 260 security forces personnel lost their lives across the country in naxal 

violence this year. During the same period, 137 Maoists were killed with the maximum of them in 

Chhattisgarh (72) followed by West Bengal (37) and Jharkhand (12). The maximum number of civilians 

was killed in West Bengal (185), Chhattisgarh (143), Jharkhand (112) and Bihar (48) amongst others. 

Chhattisgarh accounted for the maximum number of casualties for security forces personnel with 163 

casualties, while West Bengal (34) and Jharkhand (22) were the other states where the forces lost the 

most number of their troops. (Pioneer, 12/11/2010) 

Top AP woman Maoist, 3 others held 

The police nabbed a most wanted woman Maoist leader, two others and forwarded them to court along 

with the driver of a Commander jeep used for transporting them to Narayanpatna area, informed SW 

range DIG Soumendra Priyadarshi in a Press conference on Sunday. The arrested woman Maoist has

een identified as Padma alias Sirisha alias Nirmala (45) of Hyderabad, who is the wife of Rama Krishna, 

the secretary of Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC), another cadre Eswari 

Anduluri (24) of Visakhapatnam and Sarita alias Puni Maningi (23) of Maodivalsa near Bandhugaon, 

informed DIG Priyadarshi. On Saturday night, Padma and Eswari reached from Andhra Pradesh and had 

planned to visit Narayanapatna. Sarita along with a driver Gakula Kuldeep went to Dudhari under 

Similiguda police station to receive both the AP Maoists to transport them to Narayanpatna. The Police 

getting information from reliable source swooped down on them at Dudhari and seized some Odiya and 

Telugu literature, food stuff, a pair of Maoist dress; winter clothes ,some important letters written in Telugu 

language, an Odia book-“Singuraru Lalgarh-Via Nandigram”and other belongings from them. The cops 

also seized some road map, planning of operation of Maiost attack including diagrams in connection with 

Nayagarh attack and Jehannabad jail break, informed Priyadarshi. He also said that, Sirisha was a 

hardcore Maoist who was also in the most wanted list of Andhra Pradesh police and an award was 

announced to caught Sirisha. Her son is also involved in extremis activities, sources reveal. An identity 

card used by Sirisha as a worker of an orphanage in Hyderabad was also seized by police. “We have 

started anti - Maoist drive and this is the great achievement of Koraput police, beside the arrest of four 

Red rebels this week and all credit goes to Anup Kumar Sahu, Superintendent of Police Anup Kumar 

Sahu and his team, the DIG. “As police seized some important letters and documents written in Telugu 

language, we will seek help from Andhra police during further investigation and Sirisha along with two 

arrested Maoists and the driver have been forwarded to court,” the DIG further added. (Pioneer, 


Maoists attack schools, recruit youngsters 

Attacking schools and gram panchayat offices seems to be an integral element of the Maoist strategy in 

the State. More and more schools and GP offices are being targeted by the leftwing extremists, according 

to reports available with the State police. This is to create widespread fear, demonstrating the capacity of 

the Maoists and the infirmity of the State agencies and crucially expanding the Red rebels’ recruitment 

pool of frustrated and idle youngsters, feel top cops engaged in the anti-Maoist operations. A large 

number of schools and gram panchayat offices in Malkangiri, Koraput and Sundargarh districts have 

already been destroyed by the Maoists. According to reports, during 2009 four schools in Sundargarh and 

two in Malakangiri were demolished and one GP building was damaged. Till date in 2010, the ultras have 

blown up eight schools and 10 GP offices in Sundargarh, Malkangiri and Koraput If the Maoists want to 

attack any Government infrastructure, schools and GP buildings come handy to them because in these 

places Government agencies give no resistance unlike in the case of police stations, pointed out a top 

police official. These attacks are principally carried out with IEDs, locally known as ‘can bomb’ – metal 

cans packed with explosives. Reports indicate that the Maoists primarily use gelignite, dynamite, 

potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate and emulsion explosives in their attacks on the schools. More so, 

the fact that the Maoists are demolishing schools with the help of villagers. Take the case of 

Manyamkonda in Motu of Malkangiri district, where a school was damaged manually. Similarly, a school 

building in Gomphakonda in Kalimela of Malkangiri was demolished with the active support of villagers, 

pointed out sources. The Maoists claim that they attack schools and GP buildings because these places 

have become camps for security forces. Still worse, is teacher absenteeism on the plea of Maoist 

violence has enormously compounded the direct disruption of the educational infrastructure with 

devastating consequences for the lives and prospects of thousands of schoolchildren, feel educationists. 

While the Maoists are continuously damaging these Government properties, forces deployed in the areas 

seem to be playing safe, rued an education activist. (Pioneer, 15/11/2010) 

SC irked at anti-Naxal forces staying in Chhattisgarh schools 

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over the continued occupation of school 

buildings in Chhattisgarh by the anti-Naxal forces. Giving an ultimatum for the paramilitary forces and 

State police engaged in a sustained battle with Naxals to evacuate the school buildings under their 

occupation, the Bench of Justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar posted the matter for December 15. 

It was argued by the Chhattisgarh Government that though some 30-odd school buildings were under 

occupation of the anti-Naxal force, alternate arrangements were made in the village to ensure that 

education of children is not affected. The court was hearing a PIL filed by eminent persons including 

Professor Nandini Sundar and historian Ramachandra Guha, who highlighted the atrocities committed 

against innocent tribals in the name of anti-Naxal operations. “We are not going to buy this argument. You 

have to vacate the schools,” the Bench said. The petitioners had primarily challenged the raising of an 

anti-Naxal force by the State Government called the Salwa Judum. In response to the allegations of 

atrocities levelled by the petitioners, who recently conducted a field study of the Naxal-affected districts,

the Chhattisgarh Government had submitted an affidavit on October 28, pointing towards the 

development work carried out in these districts. Senior advocate Harish Salve and Atul Jha, appearing for 

the State Government said that a response would be filed with regard to evacuation of school buildings 

after taking instructions from the authorities. Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising for the Centre 

supported the Court and referred to a separate matter where the court has asked the authorities in northeastern 

States to move out Central forces stationed in school buildings. The Bench also asked the 

Chhattisgarh Government to consider the plea of restoring security of an ex-MLA, who feared threat to his 

life from Salwa Judum and some corporate groups. The Chhattisgarh Government’s affidavit said that 

Naxals were targeting schools, panchayats and hospital buildings. The affidavit had denied atrocities 

committed by Salwa Judum. However, the petitioners suggested that the Salwa Judum enjoyed State 

patronage and though the group was in animated suspension, its activities were being revived under a 

new name. (Pioneer, 19/11/2010) 

Two more Maoists surrender 

Two more Maoist rebels on Thursday surrendered before the Gajapati police. The duo was identified as 

Nau Majhi alias Ranjit(26) of Purnapani village under Adaba Police Station and Mausa Majhi alias 

Terenam (26). They handed over a Mouser and five live bullets. They had joined as members of the 

Bansadhara Division in 2007-2008. Since then they were involved in a number of violent incidents like 

blowing of the Birikot mobile tower, Andharighati landmine explosion, Brahhmanigaon Alipadar landmine 

explosion and the abduction of Nalaghati outpost village guard and his wife and were in the most wanted 

list of the police. Presently, they were active with Maoist leaders Azad and Nikhil. However, in a press 

meet here, they claimed that they were utilised in many of the violent activities against their will and 

because they were unable to bear the torture, pain and hunger, they decided to join the mainstream to 

lead a normal life. Among others, southern range DIG Radhakrishna Sharma, Gajapati Superintendent of 

Police Sanjeev Arora were present. (Pioneer, 19/11/2010) 

8 die in bomb blast in Bihar 

The deadly combination of the Maoists’ plans to derail Bihar’s Assembly polls and the alleged neglect by 

the state police brought violent death to seven innocent schoolchildren and a man in Aurangabad district 

on Sunday morning when a cylinder bomb left unattended went off. A dozen people were injured. The 

powerful bomb, suspected to have been planted by the Left-wing rebels during the sixth and final phase 

of the polls on Saturday, was discovered by policemen on Saturday in the Maoist-affected district. After 

failing to defuse the bomb, the police left it unattended in a field near Pachokhar village under the Deo 

police station. Schoolchildren on their way to attend tuition classes at about 7 am came in contact with the 

live bomb that policemen had carelessly placed in a field by covering it with sandbags. The children and a 

man died on the spot. The saddened villagers turned angry when administration officials accompanied by 

policemen reached the village four hours after the tragedy. The villagers initially refused to hand over the 

bodies for autopsy. Palpable public anger in the area prompted the Magadh range inspector general of 

police to camp near the village to control tensions. Chief minister Nitish Kumar also expressed shock over 

the incident and swiftly ordered a probe. He also announced payment of `1 lakh to each dead person’s 

next kin. The SHOs of Deo and Dhimra police stations were placed under suspension for neglect in duty. 

The probe team, comprising development commissioner K.C. Saha and DGP (home guards) U.S. Dutt, 

would submit its report on Monday, said DGP Neelmani. Manju Devi, mother of an injured child 

hospitalised in Gaya, said: “The ear-splitting noise of the blast shook the whole village. It was extremely 

callous on part of the policemen to leave a live bomb near the village.” Even though Aurangabad SP 

Vivek Raj Singh said two chowkidars were deployed in the night to guard the bomb till it was defused, the 

local MP Sushil Kumar Singh said: “The bomb was left in the village by the cops precisely to get the 

villagers killed. The police claim of deploying two chowkidars to attend to the bomb is a lie because a 

chowkidar’s son has been killed”. (AA, 22/11/2010) 

Naxals are patriots: Arundhati 

Writer-activist Arundhati Roy on Sunday described Maoists as "patriot of a kind" and accused the prime 

minister and home minister of "violating the Constitution and Panchayat (Extension of Scheduled Areas) 

Act by allowing corporates to use tribal land". "Patriot of a kind, they (Maoists) are. But related stories 

here patriotism is very complicated. So at the moment what people are fighting for is to keep this country 

from falling apart," Roy said after addressing a meet on Cultural Resistance to War on People in 

Corporate Interest, organised by a magazine. She said she did not think there could be only Maoist 

revolution for solving problems. "There will be a new kind of alliance of all kinds of people." She said it 

was the poor of India who had effectively checked India's biggest corporate companies. "The whole world 

has been intently watching the poor tribal people of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Lalgarh (West

Bengal). Nowhere in the world have movements (against corporate invasion) so big, beautiful and 

successful been carried," she said. (HT, 22/11/2010) 

Maoists murder 8 in 48 hours 

In a desperate bid to regain lost grounds ahead of next year’s Assembly elections the Maoists continued 

to spread terror in Jangalmahal, killing eight people in 48 hours. Three more CPI (M) supporters were 

shot dead by the suspected ultras on Monday even as the Marxists called a 24-hour Lalgarh bandh in 

protest of the recent killings. In a grim reminder of brutality: Taliban style the Red ultras beheaded 

Ganesh Ahir a CPI(M) supporter from Binpur not far from Lalgarh after shooting him before putting his 

severed head on the victim’s palm. This was the first case of beheading in Bengal. The incident differed in 

degree of brutality from the one in Jharkhand where the Maoists had beheaded a police officer, 

Midnapore officials said. The man was picked up shot and then beheaded and his head was placed on 

his palm, officers said. He was earlier abducted by the armed ultras from Rashikpur village in Salboni 

police station. The joint security forces recovered the body from Paluidanga near Binpur. Maoists had on 

Sunday killed CPI(M) zonal committee member Rahim Patar and Garmal gram panchayat pradhan, 

Pashupati Singh at Ovkharikasuli village under Salboni police station. The ultras also shot dead two 

Trinamool Congress workers Kalipada Tudu and Chunka Soren after abducting them from Bodomouli 

village in Salboni police station, police said. The Trinamool district leadership however suspected Marxist 

hand in the twin murders. The victims’ hands were tied from behind. The Maoists on Monday killed three 

CPI(M) cadre. Among the dead were Sushil Mahato and Paresh Mahato of Dhannogori village in West 

Midnapore. Their bullet-riddled bodies were recovered from where the bodies of two Trinamool Congress 

activists were found, police said. (Pioneer, 23/11/2010) 

India asks Pakistan to dismantle terror machine 

India on Friday asked Pakistan to dismantle the terror machine operating on its soil and bring to justice 

the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks as the country marked the second anniversary of the 26/11 

strikes. “Once again I call upon Pakistan to dismantle the terror machine operating with impunity in 

territories under its control and to bring all the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to speedy justice,” 

External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna said. In his message on the 26/11 anniversary, Mr. Krishna said, 

“On the second anniversary of the barbaric terrorist attack in Mumbai, the nation pays respectful homage 

to its sons, daughters and foreign guests, whose innocent lives were cruelly snuffed out.” Ten Pakistanbased 

Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists arrived by sea on the evening of November 26, 2008 in Mumbai and 

targeted different parts of the city, killing 166 people and wounding over 300 during 60 hours of carnage. 

India has accused Pakistan of not doing enough to bring the plotters behind the audacious attacks to 

justice. “The day is a stark reminder, that no cause can ever justify terror, either by state or non-state 

actors,” said Mr. Krishna, who is in Colombo on a four-day official visit. He said India seeks peaceful, 

stable and cooperative relations with Pakistan. “I travelled to Islamabad last July for talks and have also 

invited my counterpart to visit New Delhi for further discussions,” he said. “India is committed to resolving 

all outstanding issues with Pakistan through dialogue,” the Minister added. (The Hindu, 26/11/2010) 

Maoists blow up ambulance in Kandhamal, five killed 

In one of the most barbaric acts committed by the insurgents in Odisha, five people, including a woman 

and a three-year old child, were killed when Maoists blew up the ambulance in which they were travelling 

in Kandhamal district. The incident took around 11.30 pm on Saturday night in a hilly and forested area 

near Brahmanigaon village, about 150 km from the district headquarters of Phulbani. The victims were on 

their way to a nearby village, said police sources. The impact of the blast was such that the bodies were 

flung about 500 metres from the road and a huge crater of five feet took shape. The deceased have been 

identified as the driver of the ambulance, Suman Mallik, ASHA worker Sukati Pradhan, a woman and her 

three-year-old daughter, police said. It is suspected that the rebels mistook the ambulance to be a police 

vehicle and the people in it as cops travelling in plainclothes. They targeted it to disrupt the movement of 

security forces, who were of late moving around the area since a contractor was gunned down. The 

attack comes after suspected Maoists killed contractor Manoj Sahu in the area on November 25. The 

incident has sent shockwaves across the State. (Pioneer, 29/11/2010) 

'Naxalites, terrorists talking of bullet can't be patriots' 

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that Naxalites and terrorists believing in 

the policy of bullet instead of ballot cannot be termed as 'Patiots or Revolutionaries'. "Those talking of 

bullet instead of ballot cannot be termed as Patriots or Revolutionaries as their major aim wasto capture 

power in Delhi," said Chouhan, the first non-Congress Chief Minister to complete five years in power on 

November 29. Chouhan was reacting to the remark of the celebrity author, Arundhati Roy, who has

ecently termed Naxalites as patriots. He said not only just Naxalites, she has also termed terrorists in 

Kashmir as revolutionaries and demanded stern action against her. "If those involved in such acts are 

termed as patriots or revolutionaries then no country in the world would be able to run its affairs," she 

said. Chouhan also demanded from the Centre to declare all seven districts in the state as Naxal-affected 

so that funds can be allocated under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) for ensuring additional security 

in these districts. He said that though Naxal activities were effectively curbed in Madhya Pradesh, reports 

of their activities are still knocking in border districts like Sidhi, Singrauli, Dindori, Mandla and Anuppur. 

The other Naxal-affected districts in the state are Balaghat and Shahdol. Though a proposal in this regard 

was pending with the Centre, it has not yet approved the same. (IE, 28/11/2010) 

Why ultras using Mao’s name, asks Darwin’s kin 

Three prominent personalities — Ming, Mao-Tse and Deng Xioping — are credited to have given their 

biggest contribution to the modern China and propelling the country to achieve an unparalleled GDP 

growth. Ming established Beijing as the Capital of China, Mao-Tse-Tung started agricultural revolution 

and initiated industrialisation in the country and Deng Xioping launched the second revolution to open the 

gates of the alienated nation for the outside world and liberalised economy. However, Mao’s name has 

become the most commonly used one in the world and in India. The recent controversy of AICC general 

secretary Rahul Gandhi, reportedly comparing Gujarat Chief Minister with Mao-Tse-Tung, has again 

brought Mao’s name in the light. Gandhi has reportedly said, “Many evil personalities have done great 

developmental works.” But the question that haunts a common man is — If the name Mao sparks such a 

bad image then why Left wing armed rebels use name of Mao, and euphemistically like to be referred as 

Maoists? Felix Padel, the great-great grandson of Charles Darwin, who was on a study trip in Jharkhand, 

also share similar views and questions the use of name ‘Mao’ by Maoists. Padel, a writer, scholar, social 

anthropologist and environmentalist collecting exact words and sentiments said, “After looking at true 

Mao, once I would say Mao is very much like the big companies. He was a very good propagandist 

pretending himself as the friend of the peasant. But if you look at the detailed history, he was absolutely 

no friend of the peasants at all.” Adding more on Mao, Padel continued his observations and referred him 

a person who was ‘out of touch’ of realities but stringently pursued industrialisation. “And if you go into 

how he behaved with his comrades — he betrayed people, liquidated and murdered them — left, right 

and centre. If you look at industrialisation, no body has imposed industrialisation more closely then Mao. 

But the worst of all is that about 30 million people are said to have died in starvation caused by it.” He 

stops for a while flips the pages of a magazine and again asks, why Maoists are using the name ‘Mao’ 

….? Did they don’t know the history? Or they just have taken in by the propaganda? After a while he 

answered himself and appended, “One reason for using the name probably is that a lot of funding comes 

from China. I heard this from different authentic sources. With Nepal Maoist there is no question of it.” 

Padel, currently is a visiting Professor at IRMA, Anand in Gujarat. His two books — Out of this Earth and 

The Sacrifice of Human Being: British Rule and the Konds of Orissa — have been hot cake at bookstalls. 

(Pioneer, 30/11/2010)

Post-crackdown, Maoists struggle to regroup 

Friday’s arrest of top Maoist members from its West Bengal State committee seems to have left the 

State’s guerillas a rudderless lot, sources in the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police 

Atrocities concede. Four State committee members of the organisation — including its secretary — were 

arrested late Friday evening when they were preparing to board a Jharkhand-bound night services bus. 

Among the arrested were State secretary Sudip Chongdar alias Kanchan, a media friendly leader, Anil 

Ghosh, Barun Sur and Kalpana Maity alias Anu — all State committee members. With senior leaders like 

Himadri Sen Roy alias Somen, the last State secretary already behind bars and Nirmalda the senior most 

party member dead the Friday’s arrest has given a massive jolt to the Maoist organisation already in the 

backfoot fighting the joint security forces in the Jangalmahal. The Bengal State committee understood to 

be one of the most efficient in formulating strategies comprised Kanchan, Ghosh, Sur, Nirmalda a veteran 

leader, Madhai Patra a Hooghly veteran — who is known to have played an important role in inciting the 

Singur movement — Dwijen Hembram. Subsequently Mansaram Hembram alias Bikash, Asim Mondal, 

Sasadhar Mahato the elder brother of Chhatradhar Mahato the arrested PCPA chief and Anu, the wife of 

Bikash were inducted into the committee. The State committee under Kanchan played an important role 

in striking alliances with a Manipur-based rebel outfit and also Ulfa which reportedly helped with logistics 

in the Shilda firing. Both Kanchan and Patra were instrumental in expanding base in and around Kolkata 

many of which were still being raided STF sources said on Monday. However the arrest five top leaders 

and death of one have hit the Maoist State committee hard. “We have been hit hard with the abrupt 

arrests,” said Akash adding the party would soon conduct a probe into who passed of the information to 

the police. In fact the leader who is himself a strong contender for the State secretary’s post escaped the 

police dragnet by a whisker on Friday by giving the sleuths a slip in the last moment. With high police vigil 

on the mobile network, Maoists have literally ceased using handsets and were using human courier to 

pass on information. This has slowed down their pace of operation and the arrest of so many State 

committee members have only added to the problem as “these members were mostly urban based and 

used parallel networks for communications.” In fact the police are looking for some student leaders who 

helped the Maoists as “mobile couriers” officials said. Meanwhile the Bengal Maoist leadership was 

buying time to form a new State committee and select a new State secretary. Sources inside the PCPA a 

Maoist frontal organisation said the party was not inclined to appoint any Jangalmahal leader who was 

involved in “armed operations.” (Pioneer, 7/12/2010) 

Naxals turn urban 

Regretting that they haven’t paid adequate attention to urban areas, the Naxals have identified some 

critical urban belts. Their mission: embark on creating both open and undercover urban militia that will 

supply cadre to strengthen “people’s war in rural areas” and help create “liberated zones”. A booklet 

seized during a raid on Naxal leaders Hemchandra Pandey and Azad, who were later killed, allegedly in 

an false encounter, clearly lists out urban priorities, saying that it was a blunder not to have looked at 

urban areas with the kind of seriousness it deserved and that without it the larger goal of real people’s 

revolution can’t be accomplished. The document titled Shahari kaam ke bare mein, published in 2008, 

identifies nine different belts for its urban action plan: Ahmedabad-Pune corridor, New Delhi, Bengaluru, 

Chennai, Coimbatore-Erode belt, Hyderabad, Kolkata, industrial cities of central India and cities on the 

Gangetic plains. “We have failed to understand the clash between the urban and rural agitations and we 

are guilty of utter neglect of urban work,” the document admits. “Along with a wider and deeper public 

support, we have failed to develop a strong and impactful undercover system (gupta pranali) to keep the 

party safe in urban areas. As a result, we are feeling a serious crunch of able and experienced cadres,” 

the document says. The document lays down what it calls “battle perspective”. “We must have an 

elaborate revolutionary struggle plan, both armed and otherwise, for urban areas which will be suitable for 

a long-term people’s war — that is first liberating rural areas and later taking control of urban areas,” it 

says. “With this long-term perspective, we must develop a strong undercover party, a revolutionary united 

front and urban guerrilla squads and militia,” it says, adding, “we must be able to send cadres to rural 

areas who could be sourced from workers recruited from unorganised sector.” It says, “Urban 

organisations will also help establish supply lines to our organisation in rural areas for many things such 

as arms and ammunition, machines and their parts and medicines.” It even advocates encouraging 

ghettos of the urban disadvantaged sections on the lines of Muslim ghettos. “The Muslim ghettos have 

been caused by increasing Hindu fascism. For the Muslims, it has become a necessity so that they can 

unitedly defend themselves. All the plans of our party must take the process of ghettoisation seriously.” 

Observing that the population scales are tilting towards urban areas, the document observes that the 

economy is no more centred around villages. “In 1950-51, 56 per cent of the GDP came from villages. 

Now it has gone down to 25 per cent,” it observes. The document critically looks at the nine urban areas it 

aims to target for its urban plan. “The Ahmedabad-Pune corridor is engineering, chemical, textile, auto,

communications and electronics hub. The working class here is most diverse since it comes from all parts 

of the country,” it says. “Delhi is basically dominated by North Indian workers, while Bengaluru is an IT 

hub,” it goes on while discussing the peculiarities of each zone. In the end, the document elaborately 

discusses how to go about building the movement in urban areas. “Creating a strong and undercover 

party by harnessing the struggle of the disadvantaged working class, creating a joint front of working 

class with other sections of the urban society such as the Dalits and women and undertaking military 

activities” are the three main tasks laid down in the document. While saying that the military activity in 

urban areas would mainly be of defence (atmarakshatmak), it, however, stresses the need to have 

“resistance squads” (pratirodh daste) for armed resistance to tackle “people’s enemies”. Identifying 

organised gangs, Hindu and social fascist organisations and their killer gangs, state-sponsored vigilante 

gangs and armed state forces as “enemy armies” aiding the ruling classes, the document says, “It will not 

be proper for us to go into a confrontationist mode with the ruling powers at this stage, nor are we going 

to do that, but we must create volunteer (self-defensive) and resistance organisations if the situation so 

demands.” The document envisages creation of volunteer squads out of trade unions and people’s 

organisations. They will act against strike-busters, goonda gangs, those dishonouring women, communal 

elements in riots and displacement of people due to so-called development projects. “Gymnasiums, 

martial arts centres, sports clubs are examples of such volunteer groups,” it says. It lays down basics for 

militia groups, “which would work in a hidden manner as part of guerrilla armies”. It also recommends 

quality arms training to the members of militia. (IE, 7/12/2010) 

Maoists kill 3 villagers in Sundargarh 

Even as the People’s Liberation of Guerilla Army (PLGA) Week being observed by Maoists entered the 

fifth day on Monday, Maoists killed three villagers from Topadihi near Rourkela under K Balang police 

station by slitting their throats here on the suspicion of being police informers. The deceased, including a 

ward member and a teacher, were abducted by the Maoists on the suspicion of being police informers 

before they were killed. Their bodies with throats slit were found near the rail tracks. Earlier in the 

morning, Daudh Munda was abducted by members of the outlawed group following which he was 

rescued from Saranda forests by more than a 150-strong mob after a clash. Later, a group of 60 to 70 

heavily-armed Maoists barged into the village and kidnapped Daudh, Juan Munda and Nuan Munda. 

Later, their bodies were found half a kilometre from Topadihi railway station near the tracks. When 

contacted Rourkela SP Diptesh Patnaik said over the telephone “three bodies have been found near the 

Topadihi police station and we have launched an operation.” (Pioneer, 7/12/2010) 

Maoists kill 2 villagers in Sundargarh, 1 in Koraput 

Just a few days after three villagers were killed in Topadih village the Maoists again killed two villagers 

branding them as police informers in Nangalakata village under K Bolanga police station on Thursday 

morning. Within a span of four days five villagers have been killed. Police sources said in the morning 

about 200 armed Maoists barged into Nangalakata village bordering Saranda forest and forced six 

villagers to walk to a school building and killed two of them, Anup Singh and Bisra Singh, by slitting their 

throats. However, they set the others free. About 58 villagers of Topadihi village and its nearby areas had 

met Rourkela Superintendent of Police seeking protection from the Maoists and employment a month 

back. Though, they were assured all help but that assurance remained an assurance. Now it is an uphill 

task for the administration to win back the people to its fold after reports said the Maoist have set up 

camps in the adjacent areas and trying to wean away the tribal youth to join their fold. Meanwhile, in the 

undivided Koraput district during the PLGA week observed by the Maoist from December 2 to 8, no 

untoward incident was reported except for putting up of a number of banners and posters in different 

places of Koraput and Malkangiri district. On the last day of the PLGA week on Wednesday the Maoists 

killed a former CMAS member of Odiapentha village, three km from Narayanapatna after tying his hands 

behind the back. Accoring to information received at about 11.30 pm on Wednesday, around 50 armed 

Maoists including a woman in uniform reached Odiapentha village in Narayanapatna block, 80 kilometres 

from Koraput district headquarters. They knocked at the doors of Sombaru Huika (38) and asked him to 

come outside for a meeting. While Sombaru came outside they took him about 20 feet away and hit him 

on the head with a lathi following which Sombaru got injured and fell on the road. They then tied his 

hands behind his back and killed him by slitting his throat. Sources said that Sombaru was an active 

member of Chasi Mulia Adibasi Sangh (CMAS) and a few days back had surrendered himself before the 

Narayanapatna police. He was a tractor driver but leaving the work presently he used to earn his 

livelihood by cultivating his own land. After his surrender he was targeted by the Maoists and on the very

last day of the PLGA week they killed him. Sombaru is survived by his wife and five children including four 

sons and a daughter. After the incident the police are yet to reach the spot. After Sombaru’s widow Enki 

Huika lodged an FIR before the Narayanapatna police station, the police reached the spot in the 

afternoon, and seized the body and after post mortem handed it over to the relatives of Sombaru. Due to 

the incident fear prevails in the area, sources said. (Pioneer, 10/12/2010) 
























livelihood by cultivating his own land. After his surrender he was targeted by the Maoists and on the very 


sons and a daughter. After the incident the police are yet to reach the spot. After Sombaru’s widow Enki 



























livelihood by cultivating his own land. After his surrender he was targeted by the Maoists and on the very 


sons and a daughter. After the incident the police are yet to reach the spot. After Sombaru’s widow Enki




Reports of ISI link: Indian Social Institute, says Sen's wife 

RAIPUR: The wife of civil rights activist Binayak Sen, who is facing charges of colluding with Naxals, 

today expressed shock over reports that the prosecution tried to link the couple to 'ISI' during arguments 

at a court here. She told TV news channel that the ISI mentioned in an e-mail sent by her which was 

reportedly referred to by the public prosecutor was Indian Social Institute, a reputed Delhi-based research 

and advocacy organisation. Sen, a People's Union of Civil Liberties leader who was in jail for two years 

before being granted bail by the Supreme Court in May last year, has been accused by Chhattisgarh 

police of acting as a courier for a jailed Naxal leader. According to media reports, during closing 

arguments of Sen's trial here, the public prosecutor tried to link him and his wife Elina to an international 

terror network. "Elina Sen has also written an e-mail to one Fernandes from the ISI. We do not know if 

this is the Pakistan's ISI, but there is some significance to this," he reportedly said. Expressing shock over 

the report, Elina said the ISI referred here is Indian Social Institute. "In fact, yesterday among the many 

things I did in Delhi (before coming to Raipur last night) was to visit the Indian Social Institute, which is 

what is referred to as ISI in the story," she said. If the prosecution is "resorting to this at this stage of the 

trial when not a shred of evidence has come against my husband, it really points to their desperation," 

she said. (TOI, 12/12/2010) 

Police fabricated evidence in Binayak Sen case: defence 

Lawyer highlights inconsistencies in account of events described by the Investigating Officer On the third 

day of the closely watched trial of celebrated doctor and activist Binayak Sen, the defence focussed on 

Piyush Guha, a Kolkata businessman who, along with suspected Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal, is 

accused of conspiring with Dr. Sen to assist the urban operations of the banned Communist Party of India 

(Maoist). The prosecution claims that Mr. Guha was arrested on May 6, 2007 near the Raipur railway 

station with Maoist publications and three letters allegedly written by Narayan Sanyal in jail and passed 

on by Dr. Sen. The defence countered and said Mr. Guha was picked up on May 1, 2007, and illegally 

detained for a week before the police staged his arrest. Mr. Guha's lawyer, S.K. Farhan, pointed that the 

prosecution has not produced a single eye-witness, letter, phone transcript or call-log linking Mr. Guha to 

Dr. Sen. The prosecution's case rests on the testimony of one Anil Kumar Singh, a cloth merchant who 

claims to have been present at the time of Mr. Guha's arrest. In court, Mr. Singh claimed to have 

overheard Mr. Guha saying that Dr. Sen had given him Sanyal's letters, thereby establishing a link 

between the three. Today, the defence sought to highlight the inconsistencies in the account of events 

described by Investigating Officer B.S. Jagrit. “Jagrit is no less than superman,” said Mr. Farhan. 

“According to his statements, he is everywhere, all the time, and works faster than any mortal I have 

seen,” he said, drawing attention to Mr. Jagrit's testimony that he managed to arrest Mr. Guha, search 

him twice, find two witnesses, complete all the paperwork consisting of personal search memos, arrest 

memos and seizure memos, apply for (and receive) written permission from Senior Superintendent of 

Police B.S. Maravi and deposit all seized items in the police safe house in about 90 minutes. (The Hindu, 


Finally, Army moves into Maoist territory 

RAIPUR: The Indian army is moving into the conflict theatre of Bastar, arriving at the doorsteps of what is 

arguably the strongest military base of the CPI Maoist - not for combat, as yet, but ostensibly for training. 

"Manoeuvre ranges have been finalised in Narayanpur district where training will be given to our troops," 

confirmed a highly placed official in the army. Significantly, the hundred square kilometres identified for 

training lie in the foothills of Abujhmad, a thickly forested plateau, straddling both Chhattisgarh and 

Maharashtra, one of the only regions of India unsurveyed by the government, considered out of bound for 

the administration, entirely controlled by insurgents, and often described as a Maoist liberated zone. 

While the army sought to emphasise that its plans are limited to training, and there will be no active troop 

deployment against the Maoist insurgency, sources in the security establishment said any training facility 

would necessitate logistical support. "This means the army would first secure the Kondagaon-Narayanpur 

axis, placing a large number of troops in a series of camps, before it moves inwards for the purpose of 

training, somewhere near Orcha in the foothills of Abujhmad" explained a senior official. Since the 

Maoists ambushed and killed more than hundred CRPF men in Bastar this summer - incidentally one of

the ambushes took place close to the proposed army training range - an intense debate has raged over 

whether at all the army should be drawn into anti-Maoist operations. For the record, the government has 

maintained that the army's role would be limited to training. The army itself has shown great reluctance 

for the job. But sources indicate the army has begun mapping the contours of the conflict, preparing itself 

for the eventuality of deployment, in case the government decides to declare Maoist affected territories as 

disturbed areas, like parts of the North East, or Jammu and Kashmir. While one view is that the training 

range in Bastar will bring the army tantalisingly close to the Maoists, and hence could be part of future 

strategic positioning, another view is that the move is purely routine, linked to the army's needs. "Since 

the army's counter-insurgency training centre in Vairengte in Mizoram is under great pressure, the army 

has been scouting for training grounds in tropical forests, either in Orissa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand or 

Chhattisgarh," said a security expert. Recently, the army also announced the setting up of a peace time 

station, called a sub area command, near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, one of the few states where the army 

has no presence. Whether strategic or routine, the army's move into Bastar would be significant, pointed 

out a retired army officer: "Look at this in the light of psychological warfare. It is like telling the Maoists, 

beware, the tiger is outside your den". (TOI, 14/12/2010) 

Maoists raise Rs 2,500 crore 

A corpus reaching up to a staggering Rs 2,500 crore is believed to have been raised by Naxalites to arm 

themselves with a massive firepower and extend bases across as many as eight states across India, a 

secret document of the Union Home Ministry has said. The corpus, raised largely through extortion, 

ransom and other coercive methods in eight states over the past one and a half year, has enabled the 

Maoists to keep the security forces engaged in fierce gun battles in the so-called “red territories,” a report 

of the Intelligence Bureau circulated among the home departments of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, 

Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu has revealed. Quoting the 

report, informed sources said a portion of the corpus is being systematically utilised in procuring 

sophisticated arms like Insas and AK-series rifles, besides explosives like RDX, various communication 

gadgets and accessories from different parts of the country and abroad. Training recruits “A large part of 

the funds is apparently used to run training camps for the new recruits,” the report said. The major chunk 

of the collection comes from extortion, ransom and levies slapped on businessmen and traders. This 

apart, the banned outfit has also taken to illegal opium farming over vast tracts of land, which adds to its 

coffers. Going by the break-up of collection, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh—three worst 

affected states—are said to have contributed more than 80 per cent of the total fund raised over the 

period. While the Maoists have reportedly collected Rs 1,000 crore from Jharkhand, Rs 550 crore has 

come from West Bengal while Chhattisgarh has contributed about Rs 500 crore, the report said. A total of 

Rs 200 crore has been collected from Bihar, Rs 100 crore from Andhra Pradesh followed by Maharashtra 

(Rs 78 crore), Orissa (Rs 37 crore) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 35 crore), sources said. What has set alarm bells 

ringing in the Home Ministry is the confirmation of firming up of ties with the banned Kashmiri jehadi 

groups by these Naxalite groups. A case in point is the recent invitation extended to separatist Kashmiri 

leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani by the Naxalite union at Jadavpur University in Kolkata. “Apart from 

sending a signal to the minorities living in this part of the country, they (Maoists) have been steadily 

building their communication channel with the Jammu and Kashmir militants. In fact, recovery of 

sophisticated communication equipment from the West Bengal state secretary of the Maoists speaks 

volumes about their strategic gameplan,” sources told Deccan Herald here on Tuesday. The report said 

the Maoists had forged links with their counterparts and several other extremist organisations in Nepal, 

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Phillippines. (Deccan herald, 16/12/2010) 

Maoists trigger blast in Koraput 

The Maoists blew up a culvert in Naryanapatna block of Koraput district to protest against the presence of 

the BSF in the area. The explosion which took around 10 pm on Sunday night was so powerful that it 

created ditches of four metre depth and the sound was heard about seven to eight km from the spot. The 

incident has triggered panic in the area though no causality has been reported yet. Meanwhile, during 

combing operations in Saanda jungle the security forces have arrested four Maoists including a woman 

and seized two landmines from their possession. In another case three rebels were held from Suliapada 

in Mayurbhanj and a gun ,21 gelatin sticks and 21 live bullets were seized from their possession, said 

Mayurbhanj SP Dayal Gangwar. (Pioneer, 21/12/2010) 

Four Maoists surrender in Andhra 

Four top Maoists, two of them active in Maharashtra, surrendered before the Andhra Pradesh Police here 

on Tuesday. All the four underground Maoists, including a couple hailing from Adilabad in the State,

involved in various offences gave up before the Additional Director General of Police M Ratan (Law and 

Order). “Maddela Adellu alias Ananda, a Maharashtra State Committee (MCM) member carried a reward 

of `10 lakh on his head while his wife Kurma Rambai alias Saritha carried a reward of `3 lakh,” Additional 

DGP Ratan told reporters. Ananda was involved in nine offences including four exchanges of fire, one 

ambush, two murders and a lorry-burning case in Maharashtra, he said adding that the surrendered 

Maoist was promoted as alternative State committee member of Maharashtra State Committee in 2006. 

Two other Maoists who surrendered to police were Killo Raju alias Chkkudu Raju and Sreendri Subba 

Rao alias Srikanth, both tribals and native of Kannavaram village in Visakhapatnam district. While Killo 

Raju, commander of Kannavaram picket militia carried a reward of `1 lakh, Srikanth, deputy commander 

carried a reward of `50,00, Ratan said. As per information, there were 370 Maoists in the State and half of 

them were operating their activities in neighbouring States, Ratan said. Surrendered-Maoist Ananda told 

reporters that he worked in the party for 20 years and was “now frustrated over the stalemate in the party 

activities in Maharashtra for a long period.” On a query, Ananda said, “I have lost faith in the Maoist 

ideology and have decided to spend my remaining life with my family.” (Pioneer, 22/12/2010) 

Dantewada: scribes receive threats 

Last month, a group calling itself the “Maa Danteshwari Swabhimani Adivasi Manch” circulated a 

pamphlet in Dantewada district, threatening to kill anyone perceived to be a supporter of the banned 

Communist Party of India (Maoist). The pamphlet accused Dantewada's oldest journalist N.R.K. Pillai, 

Anil Mishra, Chhattisgarh Correspondent for Tehelka, and Yashwant Yadav, District Secretary of the 

Chhattisgarh Working Journalists' Union, of working for the Maoists and threatened them with dire 

circumstances. The pamphlet also praised the efforts of the Dantewada Senior Superintendent of Police, 

S.R.P. Kalluri, describing him as an officer who has “destroyed the daily rest and nightly sleep of the 

Maoists.” The journalists believe that the local administration and police are using the armed conflict 

between paramilitary forces and CPI (Maoist) rebels as an excuse for targeting reporters who have 

highlighted police atrocities and are critical of the local administration. “The ‘Ma Danteswari Manch' is a 

front organisation floated and supported by the district police,” said Mr. Mishra. “It has been used in the 

past to intimidate social activists like Medha Patkar, and is now being used to threaten the press. 

Members of the Manch were also responsible for the attack on a peaceful anti-government rally in 

Dantewada in January this year.” In October 2009, Mr. Mishra and Mr. Yadav were served with police 

notices, ordering them to reveal their sources, when they published stories alleging that security forces 

had killed and maimed innocent villagers in a routine search operation. In January this year, they were 

repeatedly detained at police check-posts while working on a follow-up story. In October, the International 

Federation of Journalists noted that “journalists in the Maoist insurgency areas are often intimidated into 

silence by a climate of intolerance promoted by state authorities. “We asked the police to track the people 

behind this pamphlet, but they refused to register a first information report,” said Mr. Yadav. “If the police 

can arrest those in possession of Maoist pamphlets, why can't they investigate a pamphlet that incites 

murder?” (Hindu, 24/12/2010) 

Chhattisgarh police unable to explain how Guha was arrested 

West Bengal businessman says he was illegally detained and interrogated for five days before his arrest 

was staged on May 6, 2007. At 10.45 a.m. on May 1, 2007 Pijush Guha checked into the Mahindra Hotel 

here and vanished. The hotel register indicates that he checked out at 8.45 p.m. the same day but no one 

knows where he went, who he met or what he did till 4.10 p.m. on May 6, 2007, when Anil Kumar Singh 

claimed he saw town inspector B.S. Jagrit detain Mr. Guha near the Raipur railway station. According to 

Mr. Singh's court testimony, the police searched Mr. Guha's black and blue shoulder bag and found 

pamphlets supporting the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), a mobile phone, a rail ticket dated 

May 6, 2007, Rs. 49,0000 in cash and three letters which, Mr. Guha said, were written by the jailed 

Narayan Sanyal, an alleged Maoist, and handed over to him by physician and human rights activist, 

Binayak Sen. Mr. Jagrit claimed he made the arrest on the basis of information received on his wireless 

set but did not know where Mr. Guha had been during the five days prior to his arrest. On December 24 

this year, judge B.P. Verma of the Raipur sessions court found Mr. Jagrit and Mr. Kumar's statements, 

among others, credible enough to sentence Mr. Guha, Mr. Sanyal and Dr. Sen to life imprisonment for 

supporting the CPI (Maoist) and conspiring to commit sedition. While the sentencing of Dr. Sen has 

attracted considerable comment; Mr. Guha remains an enigmatic figure. He has been convicted of 

sedition, he is implicated in a Maoist case in Purulia, West Bengal, but who is Guha? Why was he in 

Raipur and where was he those crucial five days? Mr. Guha was born on February 4, 1971 at Sagarpara 

in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, where he studied up to Class 10 before shifting to the Narkuldanga 

High School in Kolkata. “He completed his Bachelor of Sciences in biology from Gurudas College in 

Phoolbagan before doing a hardware course,” said his brother Sujoy Guha, a school teacher in

Murshidabad. Soon after college, Mr. Guha and his partners bought a factory at Sagarpara and began 

manufacturing beedis under the brand names of ‘Badshah' and ‘Dada'. “The Dada brand was named after 

cricketer Saurav Ganguly,” said Rupa, Mr. Guha's wife. “Pijush used to come to Raipur to buy tendu 

leaves for their beedi factory back home. He was also interested in manufacturing biodiesel from jatropha 

and had met several officials in the Chhattisgarh government in this regard.” On May 1, 2007, Rupa said, 

she spoke to her husband in the morning and he told her he would return home the following day. That 

evening, however, a group of policemen arrived at Mr. Guha's ancestral home in Murshidabad and 

questioned his parents about him. “The police came again on May 4 but refused to tell us where Pijush 

was and so I got worried,” said Rupa. Despite holding Mr. Guha in prison for nearly four years and 

producing 97 witnesses, the Chhattisgarh police have been unable to explain how Mr. Guha was 

arrested, how he got hold of the letters written by Mr. Sanyal, and how they relied on Mr. Anil Singh's 

testimony that he heard Mr. Guha tell the police that Dr. Sen gave him the letters. Mr. Guha testified that 

he was picked up by the police on May 1, 2007 from the Mahindra hotel, blindfolded, illegally detained 

and interrogated for five days before his arrest was staged on the station road on May 6, 2007. Defence 

maintains that all evidence was planted by the police. Mr. Anil Kumar Singh, an eyewitness, whose 

testimony was crucial for the prosecution, said he was not present at the moment of Mr. Guha's arrest but 

arrived soon after. Mr. Guha's lawyers have produced a railway ticket in his name and dated May 2 2007, 

to show that he intended returning home but was picked up by the police. The police also produced a 

ticket, dated May 6, 2007, to support their claim. “It is correct to say that the seized ticket bore Pijush 

Guha's name,” Mr. Jagrit testified. However, the seized ticket is an unreserved one. In a special leave 

petition (SLP) filed in the Supreme Court on November 23, 2009, investigating officer S.S. Rajpoot said 

Mr. Guha was arrested at Hotel Mahindra, not at the railway station as claimed earlier. Questioned about 

this discrepancy, Mr. Rajpoot said he had made a typing mistake in his written submission to the highest 

court, an explanation Mr. Verma accepted in his judgment. Mr. Verma wrote (in Hindi): “The prosecution 

is favoured by Pijush Guha's inability to explain how he got the letters … as for the police picking him up 

on 1.5.2007 from Mahindra Hotel and blindfolding him … no witnesses have been produced.” Mr. Verma 

writes that the testimony of sub-inspector Sadhan Kumar Pathak of Purulia confirms that Mr. Guha had 

Maoist links. In his testimony, Mr. Pathak claimed that Mr. Guha was part of a Maoist attack on a CRPF 

camp in Purulia in 2005. On cross-examination, he admitted that the first information report (FIR) made 

no mention of Mr. Guha. A report by the People's Union for Civil Liberties notes that Mr. Guha was 

implicated in the Purulia case two years later on May 6, 2007: the same date when the Chhattisgarh 

police claimed that they arrested him. (The Hindu, 27/12/2010) 

Maoists’ plan to attack Gaya jail foiled, 6 held 

In a major breakthrough, the Gaya police in Bihar foiled a Maoist plan to attack the divisional jail and 

arrested six hardcore ultras. The dreaded Naxals had made a comprehensive plan to repeat the 

Jehanabad jailbreak incident in 2005. According to State police chief Neelmani, on getting information 

that Maoists had planned to repeat the Jehanabad incident, a police team led by Gaya City SP, Daljit 

Singh raided their hideout and arrested six top Naxals. The arrested were identified as the zonal 

commander Bhushan Sharma alias Vipinji, Suresh Yadav alias Chandanji, Yugula Yadav alias Yogeshji, 

Ashutoshji, Arjun Paswan alias Rameshji and Jitendra Singh alias Tiger when the police raided several 

places in Rampur in Gaya district on Saturday. The arrested Maoists, were involved in the killing of a 

Station House Officer Mithilesh Prasad in Gaya and 45 other Naxal related incidents in Bihar and 

Jharkhand, police said. One AK-56 rifle, two regular carbines, two country-made pistols, 249 live 

cartridges besides Rs 59,000 in cash and seven mobile phones were seized from them, said the Gaya 

city SP, Daljit Singh. Meanwhile, intelligence reports have suggested that the Maoists were planning to 

strike in a major way in Bihar falling in the areas of Jamui-Lakhisarai-Gaya-Auranagabad. Earlier, reports 

had reached the State police headquarter that a large number of Maoists had assembled near Kajra 

hillocks in Lakhisarai. It was the same place from where the Maoists had abducted four policemen last 

year but released three cops and killed Lucas Tete after taking the State Government on ransom for six 

days. Recently, the State Government reportedly got permission to hire helicopters for operations against 

Maoists in forest and hilly terrains. Ever since the Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand Governments have 

launched a crackdown against the Maoists, the border areas of Bihar have been turning into hideouts for 

the Maoists. “Maoists are planning to make a major strike in Bihar to make their presence felt and to put 

pressure on the State administration”, a police official informed. Earlier in November 2005, the Maoists 

had attacked Jehanabad jail and freed hundreds of Maoists, including their top ranking leader Ajay Kanu, 

while killing eight policemen and some upper caste Ranvir Sena leaders lodged in the jail. “At no cost the 

Jehanabad jailbreak will be replicated again in Bihar…we’re extra vigilant and careful”, a senior police 

official of the State headquarters said. (Pioneer, 27/12/2010)

Pranab sees Naxalism as the biggest threat to nation's security and peace 

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday expressed concern over the spread of naxalism to 

more backward areas and pointed out that it was the biggest threat to the country's peace and security. 

He urged the security forces to exercise restraint while dealing with such situations. “I am particularly 

concerned at the spread of left-wing extremism to some of the more backward areas. In part, it is a 

reflection of our failure in meeting the expectations of the local people,'' he said while presiding over the 

71st Raising Day celebrations of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) here. Mr. Mukherjee noted 

that the government had deployed about 60,000 CRPF personnel to fight Naxalites in various States. He 

said: “It is easy to misguide people who have been denied their legitimate demands or deprived of their 

rights and where the State has not shown adequate sensitivity to share and mitigate the local concerns. 

However, implementation of corrective public measures required prevalence of a certain degree of 

normality in the affected areas. “It is vital to dovetail development efforts of the State in these areas to 

your operational strategy and practice. While we should be firm, decisive and unrelenting in dealing with 

the armed component of extremism, a great degree of sensitivity, patience and maturity will have to be 

exhibited in dealing with the general population in the affected areas. “I urge you to handle the situation 

with sensitivity and a firm resolve with a view to bringing back the disgruntled elements of society into the 

mainstream of developmental process.'' Peace and security of the country were being challenged by 

threats from cross-border terrorism, insurgency in the north-eastern areas and emergence of left wing 

extremism. These had direct implications not only on the development and prosperity of the affected 

regions, but also on the overall well being of society. There was need to address these concerns urgently 

and in totality. The writ of the Constitution should be implemented across the country. Mr. Mukherjee said: 

“We, as the custodians of the Constitution, have a moral, ethical and legal responsibility to ensure that the 

writ of the Constitution runs throughout the length and breadth of the country with no exceptions. “How 

well and successfully you are able to reach out to the tribals and other affected people, show respect in 

securing and protecting their rights and convince them of the opportunities that beckon them, would 

determine the success of your efforts.'' The government had recently approved an Integrated Action Plan 

for the districts affected by left-wing extremism. It covered 60 tribal and backward districts where a grant 

of Rs. 25 and Rs. 30 crore a district would be given during 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively, he added. 


Slight increase in Maoist violence 

‘21 killed by naxals this year as against 17 last year' The naxalite violence, which has been an all time low 

last year, has again showed an upward trend this year with a slight increase in its level. Against 17 

persons killed by Maoists last year, the deaths went up to 21 this year. However, the number of 

extremists killed in encounters with police came down from 16 to 13, according to data released by 

Director-General of Police K. Aravinda Rao at the year-end press conference on Thursday. The 

statement said the number of Maoist-related incidents went up from 50 to 54 and the number of 

encounters from 13 to 14. Notable among Maoist leaders killed this year were politburo member 

Cherukuri Rajakumar and State committee members Shakamuri Apparao and Solipeta Kondal Reddy. 

The comparative statement of general crime showed an increase in murders from 2,195 to 2,267. The 

number of people who died in road accidents came down from 14,799 to 14,271. The DGP announced 

the decision of the government to set up 15 marine police stations along the 1,000-km coastline of the 

State. The objective was to establish one police station for a stretch of 75 km. The stations would be 

separate entities like the railway police and Crime Investigation Department. They would be headed by an 

officer of the rank of Inspector-General. Mr. Rao said the ‘Octopus' to tackle right wing extremism was 

taking shape on the lines of National Security Guard. It has 250 commandos. A decision to enhance the 

wages of home guards was taken, he added. (Hindu, 31/12/2010) 

Compiled By 

K. SAMU 

Human Rights Documentation, 

Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi, India

NAXAL/ MAOISTS- 2010 - Indian Social Institute

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