NAXALS/ MAOISTS- 2011 (January to December 2011)

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Human Rights Documentation∗ Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003, (India)

Five Maoists killed in Orissa forest encounter Five Maoists, including four women, were killed in a fierce gun battle with security forces in this district on Sunday morning. The Maoists fired at a joint team of the Special Operations Group (SOG) and the State police, which was combing the dense Raighati forest, about 95 km from here, Superintendent of Police D.S. Kuttey said. The SOG hit back, leading to a six-hour gun battle. Five bodies were found after the encounter. The slain Maoists, aged between 22 and 35, were dressed in fatigues, the SP said. There was no casualty or injury among the security men. Twelve rifles, ammunition, Maoist posters, leaflets and booklets were seized from the site. The forest was combed after the encounter. — PTI (Hindu, 03/01/2011) Cobra getting special assault rifles for war agains t Naxals The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (Cobra), the anti-Maoist force of the Centre will be equipped with sophisticated assault rifles capable of firing 1000 rounds per minute and khukhris for hand-to-hand combat situations. The Tavor X95 sub-machine guns manufactured by the Israel Weapon Industries is billed as the Special Forces’ firearm of the next generation and presently used by the Army will now be also used by the anti-Naxal force, official sources said. The X95, according to the IWI, was developed in close cooperation with elite units and tailored to their specific requirements and needs and was created to deal with terrorism and urban and open area combat situations. The weapon incorporates advanced technology that allows interchangeability from 5.56 mm to 9mm ammunition and the same weapon platform can be used for a variety of combat scenarios. The rifle with two calibers also features a silencer and is said to be capable of dealing with complicated situations. The Cobra personnel were earlier equipped with AK-47s and MP5 guns on a temporary basis and are presently being trained to handle the latest equipment. The 10,000 personnel strong Cobra unit has been equipped with a wide array of weaponry, many of which are not even used by the CRPF under whose command and control the anti-Naxal force functions. The Centre has also sanctioned the use of ‘khukhri’ by the Cobra to provide the force with lethal edge in hand-to-hand combat situations. A decision to create Cobra out of the personnel drawn from the CRPF ranks was taken in August 2008 to counter growing menace of Naxalism and its units are deployed in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha for carrying out special operations against the ultra-Left extremists. (Pioneer, 03/01/2011) Naxals ‘recruiting’ SC/ST students in urban areas As Naxalites shift focus from rural to urban and semi-urban areas, investigations reveal that for the past two years, the outlaws have started concentrating on students’ hostels and slums in towns and cities, including Mumbai. Targeting mainly young Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe teenagers, they have already started recruiting them into their dalams (squads), investigations reveal. Between 10 and 15 hostellers from Chandrapur city and slum dwellers from Mumbai, including 3-4 girls, have already been recruited, sources said. The information came to light during the interrogation of some senior Naxals

∗ This is a collection of previously published news and views from the print as well as the electronic media, whose reference marked at the end of each news items. Department of Documentation and Library (DDL) of the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi neither claims to the veracity of the facts in the news nor subscribes to the views expressed.

arrested recently in Vidarbha, sources said. The Indian Express had last month reported about the Naxal plan to recruit youths from urban areas. “While most are from backward class students’ hostels in Chandrapur, some were picked up from Mumbai slums,” sources said. “They attended a lecture on Marx, Lenin and Mao’s philosophy at a remote place in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, delivered by state committee members, including senior cadre Milind Teltumbdein,” sources said. “It’s easy to lure these fellows when they are young... They are first inducted into front organisations and then slowly indoctrinated before being recruited into dalams,” sources said. Some students belonging to a local organisation in Chandrapur were apprehended a few years ago. “Some of these new recruits actually belonged to this organisation that had come under the scanner then,” sources added. Some recruits are from Wani area of Yavatmal. “The Naxals have started focusing on students’ hostels in places such as Rajura, Brahmapuri, Mul, Saoli and Nagbhid in Chandrapur district and Wani in Yavatmal,” sources said. The sources said the parents of the boys and girls have no idea that their children are being trained and recruited as members of the Naxal army. (IE, 03/01/2011) Maoists announce terms “to maintain alliance” with Mamata The Communist Party of India (Maoist) in a statement on Tuesday claimed that it intends to maintain its “alliance” with the Trinamool Congress on condition that the latter's leader Mamata Banerjee opposes ‘Operation Green Hunt' and resigns from the Union Cabinet. A faxed statement dated December 31 and signed by regional Maoist leader Bikram also claimed that Ms. Banerjee had spoken to senior Maoist leaders over telephone several times in the past to discuss ways to “resist CPI (M) cadres”. The contention only gives credence to CPI (M) allegations of a Trinamool Congress-Maoist nexus in West Bengal. The State Government and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee have been vocal against the alleged Maoist-Trinamool Congress tie-up and Mr. Bhattacharjee highlighted this in his recent highly-publicised letters to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Incidentally, Bikram's assertion of Ms. Banerjee's telephonic conversation comes within days of his claiming that he had spoken to All India Forward Bloc's State secretary Ashok Ghosh a few times. Mr. Ghosh, however, had categorically refuted the Maoists' claim and challenged the rebels to furnish phone call records to substantiate it. “Starting from the Singur movement and Nandigram movement to the Lalgarh movement, we have fought alongside the Trinamool Congress against the police and CPI (M) harmads… Ms. Banerjee had protested against Azad's killing and deployment of Central forces and we had supported her. Our alliance continues till date since the people also want it,” Bikram stated. Bikram, however, pointed out that Ms. Banerjee was not making any effort to restrain her party leaders from dabbling in corruption and thus allowing the ruling party to take “advantage of her series of mistakes”. Alleging that Trinamool Congress-run Panchayats, Municipalities and Zila Parishads are neck-deep in corruption, he said the party would not be able to retain its credibility. He also criticised the Trinamool Congress' alliance with the Congress and asserted that the latter's anti-people policies would negatively impact its ally's integrity before people. (Hindu, 05/01/2011) Maoists in ‘alliance’ with TMC In the backdrop of security forces intensifying their operations and several top rung leaders having been rounded up, Maoists have apparently been split on regrouping and reorganising themselves before the West Bengal assembly polls. One of the factions owing allegiance to an area commander named Bikram has backed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for being the lone bourgeoisie alternative to the ruling CPM and hastily issued a statement, pledging support to her party on a “movement-oriented alliance”. The statement faxed to various media houses on Tuesday said: “We want movement-oriented alliance with Mamata Banerjee to flourish, but for that, she’ll also have to stand firmly in favour of the common man.” The observation by the Maoist faction has put the TMC in a fix, triggering a quick damage control mission. Bikram, who called upon Banerjee to quit the railway portfolio in protest against Operation Green Hunt, sought to remind her of the “old ties” the ultras allegedly had with her during the peak of agitation at

Singur and Nandigram. Quick to deny any such links with the Naxals, the Trinamool on Wednesday launched a counter campaign, alleging that this (statement) was a clever plant by the Marxists to malign the TMC. “We don’t have any truck with the Naxals. Security forces have claimed to have cracked on the Maoists’ links. It’s very surprising that none in the police ranks knows from where the statement was faxed. This only proves that the entire thing was pre-planned to malign the Trinamool,” senior party leader and Union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy told Deccan Herald. Significantly, the statement emerged barely a couple of days after a war of words broke out between Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, with the latter accusing the TMC of openly hobnobbing with the Maoists. “Due to our joint efforts, the demon called the CPM is on the back foot in West Bengal ... people want this ... we also want to maintain and strengthen our relationship with Banerjee,” Bikram said. But he pointed out that Banerjee’s repeated wrong stands were benefiting the CPM. (Deccan herald, 06/01/2011) Naxals kill 3 kids, 6 others in Gumla Peoples’ Liberation Front of India (PLFI) rebels killed nine members of families, including three children, in Gumla district in the wee hours of Thursday. Five members of a family from Taisera and four members from another family of Bunta Mahua Toli were killed in the incidents. Both the victim families were earlier associated with the banned organisation, PLFI. “The victims were killed by axe and other sharp-edged weapons by the PLFI extremists,” confirmed Inspector General (Ranchi zone) Rezi Dungdung. On of the victims’ families belongs to Vasant Gope, a former PLFI area commander. “Vasant Gope of Girinda village was released from jail seven months back. Gope is a former PLFI area commander. He has a strong criminal background and was accused in several murder cases,” said IG Dungdung. The police official added that Vasant Gope and Suman Tirkey were involved in the murder of infamous criminal Anil Singh’s brother Vinod Singh, therefore the police were investigating the case on angle of revenge. The criminals first searched for Vasant Gope and Sandeep Tirkey. After failing to trace both Gope and Tirkey, they killed Gope’s niece Deepak Gope (4) and Sumit Gope (2), along with two female members of the family Kailashpati Devi (55) and Savitri Devi (25). The criminals took all of them to the field and killed them with sharp instruments. In another incident, five family members of Sandeep Tirki were also killed in same heinous way. Suman Tirkey (40), Teena Tirkey (37), Meri Tirkey (60), Simon Tirkey (25) and 10-year-old Manish Tirkey were killed in their house on the dreadful night. Dungdung said that Sandeep Tirkey also had a criminal backdrop. The villagers were taken aback by the shocking and heinous incident. The neighbours found the dead bodies in the early morning. Police was immediately called by the locals. Local MLA Kamlesh Oraon and other officials of the State administration reached the spot immediately. Locals staged a protest against the police demanding security for the villagers. They blocked the Gumla-Simdega road for five hours. The villagers also demanded compensation for the loss of the families. They called off the protest after the MLA assured them of proper compensation. The IGP said the PLFI action clearly indicated that the CPI(Maoist) had no control over breakaway factions that have mushroomed in Gumla, Simdega and Lohardaga. (Pioneer, 07/01/2011) Nine Maoists killed in Orissa encounter Nine Maoists, including four women, were killed in an encounter with the police in Rayagada district of south Orissa during the early hours of Sunday. A fierce gun-battle took place in the remote hilly region of Bhamramali under the Kashipur police station limits. According to Deputy Inspector-General of Police, South-West Range, Soumendra Priyadarshi, police recovered nine bodies from the spot on Sunday morning. Weapons and explosives, including three .303 rifles, two pistols and one INSAS rifle were seized. Meanwhile, combing operation has been intensified in the area to track down the remaining rebels. It is suspected that some injured Maoists were dragged away by their ilk. Police had received a tip-off that a group of around 25 Maoists was camping at the remote spot. Personnel of the Orissa State Armed Police and District Voluntary Force raided the camp. According to sources, the encounter took

place between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Unable to counter the firepower of the security forces, the Maoists fled the spot. An exchange of fire also took place between the Maoists and security forces comprising Central Reserve Police Force and Special Operations Group personnel near Maliguda village under Kotgarh police station limits in Kandhamal district early on Sunday, police said. One self-loading rifle, a Naxal kitbag and explosive material were seized from the spot, although the insurgents managed to escape. (Hindu, 10/01/2011) Assam issues shoot-at-sight order The Union government has sent 10 companies of paramilitary forces to the Assam-Meghalaya border even as the Assam government issued a shoot-at-sight order to prevent escalation of ethnic violence between the Garos and the Rabhas of the two neighbouring States. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told journalists here on Monday that the ethnic clashes, which broke out in the Mednipathar area in East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, had so far claimed nine lives and left 20 injured. About 34,000 people had taken shelter in 37 relief camps in lower Assam's Goalpara district. About 18,000 Rabhas displaced from their villages in Meghalaya were taking shelter in the relief camps. Other inmates included 7,000 Garos and about 9,000 Rabhas of Assam. There was an exodus of Garo people living in Assam to Meghalaya following the clashes, he said. Mr. Gogoi said each affected family would be given three bundles of tin roof sheet and a rehabilitation grant of Rs. 10,000. He announced an ex gratia of Rs. 3 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased. “Our priority now is to defuse the situation. I have spoken to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. I am also in touch with Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma while our Chief Secretary and Director-General of Police are constantly in touch with their counterparts to restore normality,” he said. The Army's help was taken in defusing the situation and a number of peace meetings were held in the affected and sensitive areas. The police had so far arrested 110 people on charges of involvement in arson and other acts of violence and spreading rumours. (Hindu, 11/01/2011) Naxals set CPM cadres' homes ablaze MIDNAPORE: Less than a week after the Netai carnage, Jangalmahal was on the boil again on Wednesday, with CPM cadres at the receiving end of attacks by suspected Maoists. After looting and setting ablaze CPM cadres' homes at Sankrail's Chandpal village just before noon, the red rebels warned villagers with another midnight attack if they dared douse the flames. While fleeing, the Maoists felled trees and blocked a village road. In Kotwali, meanwhile, joint forces foiled another Netai-like clash by blocking a 2,000-strong PCPA procession heading for a camp of "CPM harmads". Around 100 armed men, 15 with firearms and the rest with rods and sticks, descended on Chandpal village around 11.30am from the Dhannagari road. They first targeted the house of CPM local committee member Bibek Mondal, who was not at home then. After pushing aside his wife and mother, the rebels ransacked the house and then set it ablaze. They then ransacked and burnt the homes of many CPM workers and went about beating villagers. Warning villagers to stop siding with CPM, the Maoists threatened to mount another midnight attack on the village if the fires were put out. (TOI, 13/01/2011) Maoists abduct villager, behead in Bokaro forest In an act of reprisal, outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist guerrillas beheaded a villager on Thursday alleging that he was a police informer and had killed the top hardened Naxal leaders on January 9 in Bokaro district. On Wednesday night, two Naxal rebels abducted Budhan Marandi (45) from his house in Jassiya village under Mahuatand police station and took him in the dense forest (Jassiya forest) about 65 kms from the district headquarter of Bokaro, the police informed. “Alleging him a police informer, rebels brutally thrashed him and later beheaded Marandi. Maoists left a pamphlet beside the body charging him being a police informer,” added the police officials. Confirming about the incident, Bokaro Superintendent of Police Saket Kumar Singh said, “We have received the information and verifying it. We are yet find the body of the deceased.” Sources informed that Naxal group led by Ajay

Mahato killed Budhan Marandi to avenge the killing of three top rebels - CPI-Maoist zonal commander Praven Manjhi, sub-zonal commander Dharmendra and area commander Prasant Manghi. In a bid to eliminate rebels, the State police (JAP), along with 26 battalion of CRPF cops, launched a massive combing operation in the bordering areas of Bokaro, Hazaribagh and Giridih, including Jhumra hillock region district which is the strongest base of the Naxal rebels and also known as most Naxal infested zone of the district. On January 9, security personnel of the CRPF and the district police killed three CPI Maoist top leaders in a fierce encounter. The gun battle took place in the Hurbung forest area under the Gomia police station and police seized one SLR and two automatic rifles from them. The police also recovered 100 live cartridges, whistles, mobile phones, batteries, chargers from their possession. Notably, the Maoist insurgency, which is the greatest internal security threat, also affects the economy of the country. The Naxal rebels are active in 19 of the 24 districts of Jharkhand and nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Naxal-related violence in recent past. (Pioneer, 14/01/2011) Maoists call for Bharat Bandh The Communist Party of India (Maoist) has called for a national-wide “Bharat Bandh” between February 7 and February 11, and three days of protest from February 4 to 6 to protest against “price rise, scams and state terror”, according to an unsigned statement sent in the name of Abhay, spokesperson for the Central Committee of the party. The banned guerilla organisation has a presence in the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and parts of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. In 2010, armed Maoist cadres killed over 100 policemen and paramilitary troopers in Chhattisgarh alone. Prior experience suggests that bandh shall probably be enforced in the rural areas and state-boundaries where Maoist militias are active, urban centres are likely to remain unaffected by the call. (Hindu, 18/01/2011) Naxalites are barbarians, says Ramachandra Guha BANGALORE: Historian Ramachandra Guha and professor SL Rao differ sharply in their perception of the Naxalite movement in the country. While talking about conflict zones, with particular reference to Chhattisgarh, Guha said people were divided between the salwa judum vigilantes armed by the State and the Naxalites. "I am no sympathiser of Naxalites who are barbarians and brutes. They are a threat to Indian democracy , decency, civility and to human values. Tribal discontent is something else. It's the State's abdication of constitutional responsibility." But professor S L Rao took a different view. "Where is the Naxalite movement? It's in the poorest of India's districts. On every human development indicator , you'll see the regions score poorly." Guha said there's an urgent need to revitalize the civil liberties movement and reclaim the liberal democratic space in India. At the discussion on civil liberties and the State at Teri on Wednesday, Guha said the middle ground in India had been vacated and "we live in polarised times". While the Indian State permitted the right to vote and freedom of movement , freedom of expression was a casualty, Guha observed. Rao said many people hailed the death of the naxalite movement in Kolkata and Dharmapuri and Gill's smothering of the Khalistan movement in Punjab. "They said the movements were finished. But how? They shot many people there. You can't finish off movements by shooting people . Even those supposedly subverting the State have a right to be heard." Former Chief Justice of India Justice M N Venkatachalaiah said: "My stint as chairman of the National Human Rights Commission was an eye-opener . I found there are hundreds who don't have the assurance of living under an adequate system." He added, "I scanned through 60,000 complaints against the police and the State. I learnt how governance and democracy were functioning. I believe the gutter has come to power in India." DGP Jija Madhavan Harisingh spoke of the need to follow constitutional obligations while understanding pressures on the police and criminal justice system. (TOI, 20/01/2011) MSF and Red Cross aiding Maoists: Dantewada police

In a televised press interaction on Wednesday in Kirandul, S.R.P. Kalluri, Senior Superintendent of Police, Dantewada, accused international humanitarian organisations Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of helping the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and promised to investigate both agencies. Formed in 2004, the CPI (Maoist) is a guerilla organisation committed to overthrowing the Union government through an armed revolution. In footage screened by local cable channels, Mr. Kalluri claimed that MSF and the ICRC were providing Maoists with medical prescriptions and treating Naxalites injured in police ambushes. “They come in the name of the poor [but] help the Naxalites,” Mr. Kalluri said. According to a transcript provided by a local television channel, he also said he had alerted the State government. However, Director-General of Police Vishwa Ranjan said no such investigation was under way. “The ICRC is still in the process of signing an agreement with the government to operate in Chhattisgarh,” he said. “We are not investigating either organisation for supporting the Maoists,” he said, attributing Mr. Kalluri's comments to confusion among the local press. Representatives of both organisations expressed surprise and dismay at Mr. Kalluri's accusations. “These allegations, as I understand them, are not true. MSF has worked in Chhattisgarh for quite some time. We are very transparent, and provide medical care to the entire population,” said Martin Sloot, who heads the MSF mission in India. “We are not a political organisation, we are medical organisation. We believe in the principles of impartiality and neutrality, and that healthcare is a right,” Mr. Sloot said, adding that MSF did not allow armed people into its health centres. MSF, or Doctors without Borders, now runs a hospital and mother-and-child healthcare centre in Bijapur district and mobile clinics in Dantewada district. Set up in 1971, MSF operates in conflict zones across the world and won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in providing healthcare in crisis situations. In 2006, the Collector of Dantewada levelled similar charges against MSF, but the State government allowed the organisation to continue its work in the region. “I am surprised by the comments,” said Yahia Alibi, Deputy Regional Head of the ICRC. “We do not operate in Dantewada, but are running one primary health centre in Kutru, Bijapur, with the full support of the local administration and the police.” Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the ICRC is one of the oldest and best known humanitarian institutions in the world and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963 for its work in international and internal armed conflict. This is the second major controversy to emerge in the aftermath of one of Mr. Kalluri's press conferences. On July 11 last year, he accused a journalism student, Lingaram Kodopi, of being a member of the Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist). In an emotional press conference held in Delhi, Mr. Kodopi denied the charge and said he had been illegally incarcerated by the police in the past and was finally released on the directions of the Bilaspur High Court. A recent article published in Sanhati.com quotes Mr. Kodopi's aunt, Soni Sori, as saying that Mr. Kalluri had arrested her husband on trumped-up charges and allegedly threatened to arrest her unless she handed over her nephew to the police. Mr. Kalluri was not available for comment. (Hindu, 21/01/2011) Maoists kill 3 CPM activists Three CPI(M) activists, including a local leader, were shot to death allegedly by the armed Left wing ultras at a tea stall in the Jangalmahal early Sunday. Another was injured in the firing which took place at Salboni in West Midnapore. Condemning the Maoist attack, governor M.K. Narayanan said on the sidelines of a programme in Kolkata, “In Maoism there is an element of ideology but I feel that the human beings should not be killed. It is the most unfortunate incident.” The CPI(M) has called a 12-hour-bandh at Salboni on Monday in protest of the triple murder. At around 7.30 am, a gang of at least eight rebels in four motorcycles went to a tea stall at Rameshwarpur village, said superintendent of police (West Midnapore) Manoj Kumar Verma. While some of them stood outside, others stormed the stall and opened firing on the CPI(M) activists who were then sipping tea, preliminary investigations revealed. Karamchand Mahato, the leader and two party workers — Uttam Singh and Kashiram Palmal — fell prey to the bullets on the spot, Mr Verma added. Another Shambhu Samanta received injuries on hands in the firing. He was rushed at Midnapore Medical College and Hospital from where he was shifted to Kolkata for

treatment. Official sources revealed that a local Maoist action squad Rakhal had led rebels to carry out killings after keeping an watch on the CPI(M) activists regularly coming out of a local school building which the Trinamul Congress alleged to be a CPI(M) harmad (armed) camp. Of the victims Karamchand, a resident of Mathurapur was away from home for a long time after receiving threats from the rebels, sources disclosed. Accusing rebels and Trinamul Congress of the killings, Left Front chairman Biman Bose claimed, “Sometimes Maoists are carrying out attacks separately while on the other time they are doing it in nexus with the Trinamul Congress. This has put the democracy in great danger.” He added that the CPI(M) will continue its campaign to expose the “nexus”. Rejecting the charge of Mr Bose, district Trinamul Congress chairman Mrigen Maity claimed, “Uttam, Kashiram and Shambhu were outsiders. They originally hailed from Keshpur and Anandapur.” He alleged the triple murder was the outcome of a feud among the four harmad over money. At 10 am, joint forces personnel from a nearby police camp rushed to the spot. The bullet-ridden bodies were recovered and sent for post-mortem. (AA, 24/01/2011) Dogs from Belgium for Naxal ops Security forces deployed for anti-Naxal operations will soon be assisted by a specialised breed of imported Belgian shepherd dogs in “infantry patrols” and also to provide pre-ambush warning to the troops. Almost seven such “Malinois” breed dogs have been trained by the premier police dog training centre of the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) at their academy near Chandigarh for about 22 weeks. This is the first time that the police and Central security forces will be using canines in operations in the Naxal hotbeds of the country, a practice in line with the Israeli defence forces. The dogs will now be deployed for anti-Naxal duties in states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where forces like CRPF, BSF and ITBP have had more than 300 casualties in the last year in Maoist attacks, a senior officer at the headquarters of the joint forces here said. The dogs will undertake “infantry patrols” along with troops and will be deployed for special operations and along those difficult tracks where the possibility of hidden IEDs is huge. “A police dog is an essential component of any security force squad. This part was missing in the Naxal theatre. As these dogs are best suited for this terrain, they are now being deployed to assist the forces. They can avert major casualties and ambushes by giving early signals to their masters,” the officer said. These high-breed dogs have been used with success by Nato troops. (AA, 24/01/2011) State failed on Maoist issue: Governor KOLKATA: As the continuing political violence in the state, even in non-Maoist districts, gives the chief minister sleepless nights, West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan on Friday added to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's discomfort by pointing at the violence as "a threat to the country's internal security". The Governor said that Maoist activities had gone up because of the state government's failure to deliver the goods. At the same time, he focussed on the continuing political violence in the state. Expressing concern over the Maoists, who have become quite a force in about 14 to 16 states in comparison to five to six states a decade ago, the Governor held that Maoism was gaining an increasing support base among the general public and, in a way, becoming fashionable among the educated youth force in general. (TOI, 22/01/2011) Jhinia Pusam, alleged naxal lady commander, arreste d in MP BHOPAL: A naxal woman, carrying a reward of more than Rs one lakh on her head, and wanted in more than 45 cases including those of murder, arson and looting in Madhya Pradesh, was today arrested from Lanji area in Balaghat district, close to the Chhattisgarh border, police said. Jhinia Pusam (32) was wanted for the 1999 murder of former Madhya Pradesh transport minister Lakhiram Kaware in MP's Balaghat district, police said. Both the state police as well as the CBI which was probing Kaware's murder had announced rewards on her head. Jhinia, a resident of village Rasimata in Balaghat, eastern Madhya Pradesh, joined the naxals in 1994. After going underground, she got the names 'Pushpa' and 'Rukma',

police said. She was once the commander of Tanda dalam which operates along the border between Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat district and Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district, police said. Also, she had been the former commander of Darakasa Dalam which operates in MP and Maharashtra, and ex-commander of Job Dalam of Rajnandgaon, police said. After becoming a naxal, Jhinia went through two marriages; both the husbands were fellow Naxals, police said. "We are interrogating her to extract vital information regarding the naxals," Inspector General of Police (Balaghat and Mandla districts) C B Muniraju told PTI. (TOI, 31/01/2011) Army deployment in Abujmard shall lead to civil war , say Maoists The banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) has declared its opposition to the establishment of an Army training centre in Chhattisgarh's troubled Narayanpur district, and described the move as a first step towards the eventual deployment of the Indian Army in anti-Maoist operations. In fall 2010, the Indian Army established a sub-area command in Chhattisgarh and unveiled plans to set up a jungle warfare training college, a school for special forces and para-commandos, and a massive (between 600 and 900 sq km) training area in Narayanpur. Narayanpur is one of Chhattisgarh's most sensitive districts and borders the 4000 sq km Abujmard area, a dense un-surveyed forest claimed by the guerrilla forces of the CPI (Maoist). By acquiring land to establish a training facility on the edge of Maoist-controlled Abujmard, the Army had triggered speculation of a full-scale deployment in the future. The Army has categorically stated that it shall not participate in anti-Maoist operations at present, and that all its facilities in the State are for training purposes only, but the Maoists appear unconvinced. In a press release, dated January 22, 2011, Maoist spokesperson Guda Usendi said that the Union government was preparing to use the Army to wage war on its own people. The Maoists said that the deployment of the Army would result in the imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Chhattisgarh and lead to a "civil war" in central India. However, in a press conference on January 14 this year, Chief of Army Staff, General V.K. Singh said that the Army was "neither operating in the area nor seeking protection under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act." The Maoists questioned the right of the government to hand over tribal land to the Army and called upon people's organisations and civil society to oppose the force’s presence in Chhattisgarh, but stopped short of stating if the Maoists would attack Army installations. In December last year, the Army revealed that it had written to the Home Ministry to seek clarifications on the rules of engagement and the right of retaliation in the event that their forces are attacked by the Maoists. The close proximity of the training facility and rebel bases has lead to fears that a Maoist attack on soldiers could draw the Army into the protracted insurgency. Last year, the Maoists killed over 100 troopers of the State and central paramilitary forces in Chhattisgarh alone, including 27 soldiers of the Central Reserve Police Force in Narayanpur district, not far from the proposed Army training centre. (Hindu, 01/02/2011) Maoists, terrorism, religious fundamentalism contin ue to be serious challenges: PM Warning that serious challenges posed by naxal violence, cross-border terrorism and religious fundamentalism continue to persist, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said there is need for greater coordination and responses from states to effectively deal with them. Inaugurating the conference of chief ministers' on internal security, Singh said there can be no let-up in the government's efforts in the fight against terrorism and communal violence. "...we all need to be conscious of the fact that serious challenges and threats -- primarily from left wing extremism, cross border terrorism, religious fundamentalism and ethnic violence -- still persist," he said. The Prime Minister said as far as left wing extremism was concerned, 2010 saw a decrease over the previous year in the number of incidents and casualties of security forces, though the number of casualties among civilians increased. "Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand continue to be a cause for concern in view of the level of violence. The problems in Orissa and Maharashtra are also quite serious," he said. Asking chief ministers to consider increasing the number of joint operations by state police forces with the assistance of central forces, Singh said in the fight against the Maoists, there is a need to have a greater coordination of

responses and resources between the central and state forces. The Prime Minister also complimented the National Investigation Agency for unravelling the activities of new terror groups and unearthing rackets in fake Indian currency notes in different parts of the country. The NIA is currently probing the activities of right wing organisations and activists allegedly involved in the bombing of Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Dargarh, Mecca masjid in Hyderabad and a mosque in Malegaon. Referring to northeastern states, the Prime Minister said he has repeatedly stated that the Constitution is a remarkably flexible instrument, capable of accommodating a diverse range of aspirations. "What is essential, however, is a genuine desire for peace and a willingness to abjure the path of violence. It is the commitment of our government, that if these two conditions are satisfied we will respond in full measure in considering the demands of various groups," he said. There has been fruitful engagement with several groups in 2010 and we wish to deepen this process of engagement this year, he said. Singh said while the central and the state intelligence agencies were at work, there was a need to recognise the fact that the best, actionable and prompt intelligence on internal security often comes from the police stations. "But people will come forth to give information to the local policeman, only when they see him as a friend. We need to closely examine the functioning of police stations and bring forth changes to make policemen truly people friendly. We need to take three pronged action on community policing, police reforms and informed use of technology respectively to make this happen," he said. The Prime Minister said the Centre and the states should work together to formulate guidelines for community policing and there was need to learn from international experience in community policing. "Bridging the gap of mistrust that exists between the police and community will go a long way in collecting actionable intelligence. This also brings me to the idea of involving the academia and professionals, who are experts in the field of data mining and cyber security, in policing," he said. Singh said more efforts need to be put in the refresher training of police personnel and in the reorientation of cutting-edge police officers as they are the ones with whom members of public get in touch with on a daily basis. "Till such time we cannot upgrade their skills and bring about a change in their behaviour and attitude- an attitude of 'service of the people' - we will not succeed in our efforts to set up a truly people-friendly and professionally competent and very good police force in our states and our country," he said. The Prime Minister said there was a need for the police officers to be specially sensitive to the problems faced by the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities, women and elderly citizens. "It is a shame for all of us that atrocities against the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes still continue to exist in our country. It is the duty of our police officers to ensure that no case of atrocity against these under privileged groups goes unpunished," he said. Singh said like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, most of the women in the country also do not have a voice, they are often at the receiving end of violence which our society condones and sometimes even sanctions. "I would expect the state governments to be alive to the need of protecting our women against violence by doing their very best to ensure punishment to the perpetrators of such violence," he said. Maintaining that the government was aware that many police commissions have made various recommendations on police reforms, the Prime Minister said policing of the society cannot be continued with archaic laws and policing systems. "I urge the states to seriously look into this aspect..I would like the Ministry of Home Affairs to carry forward this exercise to its logical conclusion in the Union Territory of Delhi during the coming years so that Delhi Police becomes a model for other state police forces to emulate. (IE, 02/02/2011) Maoists list demands for release of cops Maoists have come out with a list of demands to set free the five personnel of the Chhattisgarh Armed Forces (CAF) abducted on January 25 from Narayanpur — one of Chhattisgarh’s most Naxal-affected districts. In the demands circulated through media reports, Maoists have asked for stopping efforts for setting up a proposed Army training school in Narayanpur district. The rebels have declared that the hostage will be freed only after their demands were fulfilled. “We have not received any direct information about the Maoists’ demands, all we know so far is only from the media report,” said Additional Director

General of Police Ram Niwas. He said that efforts on various levels were being made to secure release of the abducted CAF personnel. “We are taking all possible efforts for the release of the cops,” he added. There has been a proposal for setting up an Army training school in Narayanpur near Abuj Maad region which is spread over nearly 4,000 square kilometres where Maoists are said to have over a dozen arms factory and training camps. The area has not been surveyed and is known as a part of the so-called Maoists liberated Dandakaranya zone. The other demands by the Maoists reportedly include release of 15 villagers who were allegedly detained by police, scrapping all MoUs with major industrial houses, disbanding the operation green hunt, area domination exercises by the forces, withdrawal of Central paramilitary forces from school buildings and forces from operation and compensation to villagers whose houses were damaged during operation by the security personnel. Maoists had on January 25 searched a passenger bus in Narayanpur district and abducted six people including five security men and one civilan. The civilian was, however, released but cops continue to be in Maoists captivity. The cops were abducted while going on leave. For the release of the hostages, relatives of abducted policemen have been making fervent appeal to the Maoists even as others are also being used to call on the rebels to free them. Those who were abducted included Ramadhar Patel, Raghunandan Dhurv, T Ekka (all head constables) and Constables Mani Shankar and Ranjan Dubey. A civilian Gulchand was also abducted but the rebels later released him after verifying his credentials. (Pioneer, 03/02/2011) AK-47 seized on leads given by Maoists held in Trin amool camp The police claimed to have recovered on Thursday a sophisticated firearm and several rounds of ammunition and explosives from Kanyabali village in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district based on information provided by two suspected Maoists, who were arrested from a Trinamool Congress-run relief camp in Midnapore town on Monday. According to Additional Director-General (Law and Order) Surajit Kar Purkayastha, one AK-47 rifle, 50 rounds of 8-mm cartridges and 61 gelatine sticks were recovered from an abandoned house. The AK-47 rifle reportedly has ‘PLGA' (the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) and ‘EER' (Eastern Frontier Rifles) written on it, making the police suspect that it could be one of the firearms looted by Maoists from the Silda armoury after they massacred 24 EFR jawans on February 15, 2010. “The arms and ammunitions were found when the security forces raided various places at Kanyabali and Lakhanpur villages on the basis of information revealed during the interrogation of Asim Mahato and Amiyo Mahato. Investigations are still on to examine if the duo was involved in the Silda incident,” Mr. Kar Purakayastha said here. Both were produced before Midnapore's Chief Judicial Magistrate and remanded to police custody for five days. The police were searching for four more suspected Maoists who had allegedly lived with Asim and Amiyo in the same camp since September last but fled recently. (Hindu, 04/01/2011) Maoist blow up railway tracks in Jharkhand during s hutdown Maoists on Monday blew up railway tracks at two different places in Jharkhand as they began a day-long strike in three states to protest price rise and corruption. A group of armed Maoists packed explosives to blast a stretch of railway track, four km from Mile station in Ramgarh district, at 1.15 am, police sources said here. The guerrillas blasted another stretch of railway track between Dania station in Bokaro district and Bihar's Jageshwar station, disrupting train services on the two routes, the sources said. The Maoists also warned the station master of Dania against movement of trains during the shutdown, and took away the keys of the railway crossing gate there, the police said. Transporting of coal to different places has also been affected following the shutdown, the sources said. The Maoists had pasted posters in different places saying that they have called a bandh in Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa today to protest price rise and corruption. (IE, 07/02/2011) Caste conflict led to killing of Reds: PUCL

PATNA: A six-member PUCL fact-finding team constituted to probe into the November 29, 2010, killing of alleged Maoists in Harinmar Bishunpur panchayat under Bariarpur police station of Munger district has found the incident to be a culmination of a long-drawn caste conflict between Binds and Dhanuks. The PUCL report was released here on Monday. As per the report, while Binds suspected that Dhanuks were giving shelter to the Maoists, Dhanuks denied it and charged the former (Binds) with involvement in criminal activities. Some Binds accused Dhanuks of instigating the Maoists to collect levy from those Binds who are involved in fishing. The report says there is always tension between the Bind sarpanch and Dhanuk mukhiya. It also notes that the police appeared to be soft towards Binds and did not arrest them except for rounding up some of them. The report has put a question mark over the intention of the police saying it raised suspicion that the police were using Binds in their fight against the Maoists. The report says the Maoists are not popular in the region and their claim to champion the cause of marginalised sections appears to be hollow. The Maoists impose levy, even on the poor, in the area, the report said. In all probability, tension might have increased lately between Binds and Dhanuks following flow of additional public money in the panchayat. It could be the reason behind the demand for payment of levy as also enhanced level of hunger for land, the report added. The team comprised PUCL general secretary Nageshwar Prasad, former state PUCL president Vinay Kanth, former general secretary Kishori Das, PUCL joint secretary Mithilesh, Jitendra and Udayan. (TOI, 08/02/2011) Buddhadeb rejects Gorkhaland demand again West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday reasserted that the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha's demand for a separate Gorkhaland unacceptable and ruled out bringing the Dooars and the Terai under any new administrative arrangement for the Darjeeling hills. His remarks came at a time when the GJM leadership has intensified attempts to take its agitation from the Darjeeling hills to the Dooars and the Terai in the north Bengal plains. At an event held at Phansidewa near Siliguri, Mr. Bhattacharjee said: “The time has come for the [political] leaders in Darjeeling to realise that clamouring for Gorkhaland will yield nothing. It is not acceptable — either to the State or the Centre. It is not realistic; it is not possible.” He was also critical of the GJM's plans to take the agitation to the north Bengal plains, which the authorities fear could inflame ethnic passions, given the large presence of tribals in the Dooars. “They [the GJM] are trying at times to take it [their movement] from the hills to the Dooars, the Terai and even Siliguri…They will never get this region,” the Chief Minister said, cautioning against attempts to stir up trouble in these areas. Urging the GJM leadership to give up its statehood demand and stop its agitation, Mr. Bhattacharjee asked: “Who is gaining from this? The hotels [in the hills] are closed. After a few days, there could emerge a situation in which the people of Darjeeling will not get anything to eat.” Unless the agitation was withdrawn, he said, there could be no dialogue to end the impasse in the region. The GJM leadership, which had called an indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills from February 9, a day after three of its supporters were killed in police firing in the Dooars, relaxed the bandh on Saturday for four days. The GJM leadership is awaiting word from the Centre on its proposal for setting up a joint verification committee to identify the Gorkha-dominated pockets in the Dooars and the Terai, which it wants included in the jurisdiction of an “interim” administrative body as a step towards a Gorkhaland, its “ultimate goal.” (Hindu, 21/02/2011) Talks on to free seven suspected Maoists As several bail petitions were filed in different courts of Orissa on Monday for the release of suspected Maoists in the wake of the demands made by the Maoists for release of abducted Malkangiri Collector R. Vineel Krishna and Junior Engineer Pabitra Majhi, the State government continued negotiations with the mediators on the major demands that include release of at least seven suspected Maoists hailing from Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and other States. However, eight of the 14 demands were accepted by the State government, or “resolved,” as Home Secretary U.N. Behera told journalists at the end of the second day of the ongoing negotiations. One of the demands accepted included issuance of land pattas to the tribals

of Koraput and Malkangiri districts, where tribal land had been occupied by others. The Narayanpatna area in Koraput where thousands of tribals have been agitating for restoration of rights over their land will be covered under the initiative, Mr. Behera said. “The State government is alive to the need of protecting the land rights of the tribal people in Scheduled areas,” he said. “Now it has been decided that officials of the level of Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary, with statutory powers under the land laws, will be posted in Koraput and Malkangiri districts to expeditiously dispose of cases pertaining to land rights of the tribals.” Further, the government agreed to constitute a high level committee under a senior officer to make recommendations on different measures for effective and expeditious restoration of rights on land to the tribal people in Scheduled areas, he said. The government also agreed to continue its efforts and pursue the matter before the Central government, with regard to the issue of grant of Scheduled Tribe status to members of the Konda Reddy and Muka Dora communities. The government also agreed to increase irrigation cover in different areas in Malkangiri district for extension of canals and by putting up minor irrigation projects and lift irrigation points. Further, the government assured the mediators that it would write to the Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand governments to take necessary measures for the release of two Central Committee members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) – Sheela Didi who is lodged in Chhattisgarh and Padma who is in jail in Jharkhand. Both were reportedly ailing. (Hindu, 22/02/2011) Orissa accepts 8 Maoist demands The Naveen Patnaik government on Monday accepted eight of the 14 demands Maoists made for the release of Malkangiri Collector R. Vineel Krishna and Junior Engineer Pabitra Majhi. As the talks on the Maoists' demands remained inconclusive for the second day, the government said it was confident that the abducted officials would be released shortly. “We are confident that Mr. Krishna and Mr. Majhi will be released very soon,” Home Secretary U.N. Behera said at a press conference, in which government officials and the three mediators were present. “The demands raised by the Maoists had been formulated into 14 issues, and eight of them had been resolved. The remaining six demands were partly discussed and will be discussed further during the negotiations with the mediators on Tuesday,” he said. The suspected Maoist, Ganti Prasadam, who was brought to Koraput from a jail in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, was being taken to Bhubaneswar to take part in the negotiations, highly placed sources said. Prasadam is in judicial custody, and a petition for his release, along with four other suspected Maoists, was filed in the Orissa High Court during the day. “The 14 demands were put together with the help of the mediators on the basis of media reports, pamphlets and inputs collected by the negotiators,” Mr. Behera said. The mediators had assured the government that the officials abducted on Wednesday were safe. The demands that were accepted include grant of land rights to tribal people in scheduled areas; minimum displacement of tribals while making space for industries and mining; and grant of the Scheduled Caste status to two communities. As for the demand for the release of two suspected women Maoists jailed in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, Orissa agreed to write to the State governments to take action. (Hindu, 22/02/2011) 'Collector is in touch with wife' SEELERU (Visakhapatnam): Even as tribals were conducting peace rallies and dharnas across Orissa and along Andhra-Orissa border seeking release of Malkangiri collector R Vineel Krishna, highly-placed sources told TOI here on Monday that the abducted collector has been in touch with his wife Chandana through various modes of communication. It is learnt that the collector contacted his wife once through a wireless set and twice through letters. This was facilitated by the nearby village heads and other sources. "Krishna was also being looked after well by the rebels. He was provided food, mattress and also a table fan," sources said. According to sources, the village head collects the letter written by the collector from the Maoists and ensures that it is delivered at the residence of the collector in Malkangiri. The same procedure is followed for collecting the letter from Chandana and delivering it to Krishna. "While delivering the letters to the collector, food, fruits and even newspapers were sent," sources revealed. The Maoists

contacted local officials to enable the collector contact his wife through a wireless set. Sources also said that the collector and the abductors remained at one place for three days before moving to another place. "While shifting to the new hideout, the collector had to walk barefoot as his footwear was torn. The Maoists got him a new pair of slippers," the sources said. (TOI, 22/02/2011) Maoists free Collector, engineer Abducted Malkangiri Collector R. Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Majhi were released in the Chitrakonda area of the district on Tuesday as soon as the Orissa government agreed to Maoists' demands. Mr. Krishna and Mr. Majhi were greeted by thousands of people on their way to the district headquarters town of Malkangiri. Hundreds had been waiting outside Mr. Krishna's residence. According to sources, the two were not harmed by the Maoists, who had kidnapped them from near the Balimela reservoir on Wednesday last. The news of the release came minutes after the government accepted some more demands, in all 15, of the Maoists and a formal announcement was made, at a press conference held by three mediators and two officials here, that the two would be freed within 48 hours. Suspected Maoist Ganti Prasadam, who was brought here from Koraput, was consulted by the mediators in the local jail during the day. The government agreed to withdraw a case against Prasadam and four others — Kandula Sirisa alias Padma (wife of Maoist leader Ramakrishna); Andaluri Iswari; Rosa Mandangi, and driver Gokul Kuldipia. As for the release of Ashutosh Sen, Srinivas Sriramulu, Gananath Patra and Tapan Mishra, it agreed to examine the cases on their merits. On withdrawal of cases against hundreds of tribals who had been jailed as Maoists, the government agreed to review the cases within three months. (Hindu, 23/02/2011) Engineer freed, Collector still in Maoist custody The banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) on Wednesday released junior engineer Pabitra Majhi on the banks of the Balimela reservoir at Jal Bai village in Orissa's Malkangiri district, but Collector R. Vineel Krishna is still in its custody. The two men were kidnapped from the Papermetla panchayat in Malkangiri on February 16. After a week of hectic negotiations, the State government issued a statement on February 22 indicating that the two would be released in 48 hours. About 1 p.m. on Wednesday, an overloaded motorboat arrived at the Jal Bai ghat near Chitrakonda. In it sat a man wearing a red helmet that covered most of his face. Mr. Majhi was immediately recognised by the waiting crowd of journalists and villagers, but he was rushed to the district headquarters on a motorcycle. In a short interaction with the press, Mr. Majhi said the Maoists had treated him and the Collector well and reports of Mr. Krishna's ill health were untrue. However, he could not provide a firm date for Mr. Krishna's release. There is little information why he is still in Maoist hands. Late Tuesday night, a large crowd gathered outside his residence and waited in vain until daybreak. Conflicting reports emanating from Bhubaneswar and Malkangiri gave the impression that Mr. Krishna had already been released. Based on these reports, several newspapers, including The Hindu, reported that Mr. Krishna was handed over to the government by the Maoists. However, on Wednesday morning, a source close to the Maoists said the release was delayed owing to a “communication problem” and the party leadership was trying to communicate with its cadre in the forest. Now that Mr. Majhi was released, sources said, the Maoists could be waiting to ensure that the State government kept its side of the bargain. Among the demands put forward by the Maoists was the release of senior party leaders Sriramalu Srinivalasalu and Ganti Prasadam. While Prasadam was granted bail by the Orissa High Court on Wednesday, Srinivasalu's bail application will come up for hearing at Malkangiri on Thursday. Even if Srinivasalu is granted bail, he may still remain in police custody. “There are currently two warrants pending against Mr. Srinivasalu in Andhra Pradesh,” said his lawyer Ravindranath. “If the Andhra Pradesh police execute these warrants, he will have to go back to jail and seek bail once more.” Mr. Ravindranath said the police had filed several false cases against his client and Srinivasalu had been acquitted in more than 20 cases. Ganti Prasadam, too, may have to spend some time in jail in Andhra Pradesh. “Mr. Prasadam is implicated in one case for an attack

on the Superintendent of Police of Ongole district,” said his lawyer. While Ganti Prasadam was out on bail, his bail was cancelled when he was arrested in Orissa in November last for supporting the Maoists. (Hindu, 24/02/2011) Collector walks a free man The television cameras were massed outside his house, but when Malkangiri Collector R. Vineel Krishna took his first steps to freedom, the reception party consisted of the one man who had missed him most visibly. Driver Shankar Rao had spent eight days on the shores of the Balimela reservoir, arriving at five in the morning and leaving only after darkness fell, waiting for the moment when he could take Mr. Krishna back home. As Mr. Krishna stepped off the motorboat, Mr. Rao opened the car door and prepared to take his place behind the wheel. Mr. Krishna rushed to embrace him as Mr. Rao broke down. “Why are you crying?” Mr. Krishna asked in Telugu. “I am here now.” Mr. Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Mahji were abducted at Janta Pai village in Malkangiri district by armed cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) on the evening of February 16. The terms for his release were decided after a week of hectic negotiations between the Maoists and the Orissa government. Mr. Krishna was released around 7 p.m. on Thursday after the Maoists held a four-hour public meeting with villagers in Tentuliguda village, held in the presence of a few reporters from local Oriya news channels. Mr. Mahji was released on Wednesday. Thanking the public for their support, Mr. Krishna said he was in perfect health. “The Maoists took care of my well-being and dignity.” He said he had spent his days in frequent conversation with the Maoists, who discussed mining and tribal development issues. Asked if the eight-day ordeal had changed his perspective on development, Mr. Krishna acknowledged the importance of a debate on the nature of development, adding the tribals should benefit. Mr. Krishna said he was surprised by his kidnapping as he was travelling in the area with the express purpose of evaluating development projects. “I never felt my life was in danger. They [the Maoists] made it clear that they would not harm me.” (Hindu, 25/02/2011) Never felt I was in danger, says Collector Hours after his release from Maoist captivity in a remote location on the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border, Malkangiri Collector R Vineel Krishna said, “I feel that I was just a rallying point. I think the people wanted to give a larger message through the love and affection which they have shown to me in the hour of crisis.” Talking to selected mediapersons at Janbai, Krishna — who looked calm — said the Maoists looked after his “well being and dignity” during the eight days in captivity. “I am absolutely fine. There were no health problems,” he said when asked about reports that he was unwell. “I was surprised when I was picked by the Maoists. I was in fact travelling in that area to oversee the development initiatives which we had taken up for the people in these remote areas,” he said, adding that during his stay with the Maoists the rebels mainly talked about their agenda and talked issues relating to mining. “Besides, they also talked about the usual issues being raised by the CPI (Maoist).” “I never felt that I was in danger. They had made it clear that they will not harm me,” he said. Replying to a question on whether his stay with the Maoists changed his perspective about development in any way, he said, “There is always scope for a debate on the nature for development. Ultimately, the poor tribal community must benefit.” (IE, 25/02/2011) Collector abducted for exploited tribals’ cause? After remaining in captivity for nine days, Malkangiri Collector R.V. Krishna was released by Maoists on Thursday. According to initial reports, around 15 Maoists dropped the collector at Doliamba village where a meeting of local tribal people was organised. One of the local Maoists explained that the collector was abducted for the cause of the tribals who were being “exploited” and “oppressed” by the state administration. The reports said the collector was held hostage on a well-guarded hilltop, eight km from Doliamba. Armed Maoist cadres were deployed all around the hill to repulse any possible attempt of

attack by the security forces. A lot of suspense and drama preceded the collector’s release as the Maoists, making a volte face, made fresh demands for granting freedom to the officer. They sought immediate release of their ideologue Ganti Prasad and a host of other leaders. They even asked the three interlocutors to come to Malkangiri for further discussions and finalise the modalities of the district. Jubilation broke out in front of the collector’s residence at Malkangiri as soon as the news reached that Mr Krishna was released. (AA, 25/2/2011) Kerala girls’ love trail to Odisha Maoist areas wor ries police After the controversy over Love Jihad, the existence of which was never accepted by the authorities, the Kerala Police are now worried over incidents of Kerala girls being taken by youths from Odisha to Maoist strongholds in that state in the name of love. The police had recently rescued a girl from Malappuram district from a Maoist stronghold in Daringbadi, Odisha. The 14-year-old school girl, taken to the Maoist-controlled area by Odisha youth Raj Moura alias Raju (23), told the police after her rescue that several other Kerala girls had been kept at homes in that village . Inspector General of Police B Sandhya has ordered a high-level probe into the incident and sources admitted that they were worried about the possibility of a network behind such incidents. “Presently, we don’t have enough reasons to believe that these girls are being taken there as part of a programme. It could well be just a case of love. But we have to worry about what this girl told us about coming into contact with several other Kerala girls who were taken to that village in Odisha like her. They had advised her to escape at the earliest,” said a police official. A team from Kuttippuram, Malappuram, comprising of police officials, two civil police officers and the father of the girl, had rescued her from the Adivasi settlement of the hilly Atinbadi village coming under the Daringbadi police station limits of Odisha. Kerala Police officials said this was a hard mission even with the help of armed personnel from the Odisha Police. Police officials said that the team that went to rescue the girl, who was kept in captivity in an isolated house situated on a hill at Atinbadi, had succeeded in its mission after several challenges which included inspections of their vehicle, blockades by villagers, etc. It was obvious from the descriptions of the Odisha police and the posters filling the streets that the entire area was controlled by the Maoists, they said. Raju, the girl’s lover, was staying in a rented room of her house at Chirattakkunnu near Kuttippuram along with three other Odisha youths (Adam, Vinod and Arun), all of whom were working in a bar hotel. Raju had taken the girl to his village in Odisha on February 20. The police had tracked him down as per the information provided by his friends. According to the police, the girl was kept in captivity for ten days in the house at Atinbadi, some 270 km away from Berhampur railway station. They said the police at the Daringbadi station were not ready to cooperate in the operation first but they agreed to send armed personnel as escort after contacting higher authorities. Officials said that use of force was in no way desirable considering the peculiarities of the Maoist-infested area where there was the possibility of the team betting booby-trapped, according to the Odisha Police. Even after several rounds of negotiations with the villagers, the people who had kept her in captivity were not ready to release her, they said. It was the heart-breaking cries of the girl’s father that finally became worked, they said. As per rough estimates, more than three million people from states like Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal are working in Kerala. There have also been specific instances of Maoists from the Red Corridor using Kerala as a base for re-grouping, training and weapons and explosives acquisition. (Pioneer, 07/03/2011) Why Dalit women join Naxal movement? On the occasion of 2011 International Women’s Day one cannot ignore the huge participation of women in the Indian Maoist movement since the Naxal movement. The Pioneer tried to find the reason behind their participation during the movements. Hemlata S Mohan, chairperson of State Women Commission opined that whether it were the Andhra Pradesh Chenchu adivasis or Jharkhand Santhal adivasi or Odisha Kond adivasis or the Dalit women in the various plain and suburban areas, it is always the poor, backward, lower caste women who are the victims and participants of rebellion movements. “The reasons

for their joining the movement may vary, but one common feature we find in them is their aspiration to be liberated from domestic violence and to be protected. Arms give them sense of power,” said Vijay Kumar Singh, IG, Prison. Aleem Siddiqui, a psychiatrist shared the same view that the women revolutionaries have been put down as sexual victims of their male colleagues. Their personal lives have sometimes been derided with all kinds of slander which is an important component of the Low Intensity Conflict strategy of Psychology. According to a source, the women cadres have to work under constant physical and mental pressure amidst police combings and mopping up campaigns. During combings they have to take shelter in the homes of the peasants and they have to be so secretive that they have to relieve themselves inside the house in pots. Taking bath is an extremely risky exercise and could cost them their lives. Many women ‘comrades’ died fetching drinking water for the squad as water points are ambush spots for the police. None of them could be counted under the category of ‘healthy’ women and have to survive with all kinds of diseases and illnesses including gynaecological problems, not to mention — the dreadful malaria resulting in severe anaemia. Some had surgical operations for various ailments and worked under severe physical constraints. Majority of the women cadres, particularly the guerillas had chosen not to have children. Some of them had children when at home and had left them, to join the movement. Some gave birth to children in the movement but left them with somebody and joined the movement. It is ‘movement’ not ‘motherhood’ which makes them complete women. (Pioneer, 08/03/2011) Maoist violence claims 2,680 lives in 2008-10 NEW DELHI: Over 2,600 civilians and security force personnel were killed between 2008 and 2010 in several incidents of Naxal violence across the country. Besides, there had been more than 900 attempts by Naxalites to destroy telephone exchanges, railway properties, power plant, mining and school buildings during the same period. According to information given by MoS (home affairs) Gurudas Kamat in Lok Sabha, out of the total of 2,632 casualties, including 1,799 civilians and 833 security personnel, a highest of 1,003 was in 2010, followed by 908 in 2009 and 721 in 2008. About 6,061 incidents of violence by left-wing extremists were reported during the period, the minister said. Incidentally, there has an been increase in the number of incidents of economic targets by Maxalites. Out of the 909 such attempts, a highest of 325 were on forest road, culvert; 158 on telephone exchanges; 135 on school buildings; 127 on railways properties; 61 on panchayat bhawans; 33 to disturb electric supply by targeting poles and 18 on mining related projects among others in the last three years. Kamat said the government has banned left-wing extremist organisations like -- Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), People's war, Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), Communist Party of India (Maoist) and all its formations and front organisations -- under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. (TOI, 09/03/2011) Al-Qaeda, LeT terrorists can strike in India during World Cup matches: Intelligence Terror groups al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba are looking for opportunities to target the ongoing World Cup cricket matches in India and vital oil installations along the coastline, prompting the Home Ministry to sound a nation-wide alert. A foreign intelligence agency has conveyed to India that some members of an operational cell of the terrorists could already be in the country, possibly entered via Nepal, and some more may arrive soon. "A collateral input reveals that al-Qaeda operatives involved in the attacks could travle to India via boat, possibly in the next few months and that these operatives could be well acquainted with maritime travel to reach their targets in quick time and could be Urdu-speaking from the Punjab province of Pakistan," the advisory sent by the home ministry to states said. The home ministry said that as per the input, the terrorists also have plans to carry out attacks in India during the ongoing World Cup cricket competition. The Centre has asked the states to beef up security along the coastline, oil installations and all world cup venues. Indian Navy, Coast Guard, coastal police of the states and coastal villages have also been alerted. The recent inputs indicated that LeT group affiliated to Pakistan-based Zabiuddin Ansari has been looking for information on chemical compounds and the venues of the World Cup cricket matches in India where these chemicals can be used for fabrication of Improvised

Explosive Devices. "Keeping in view the threat from Al-Qaeda, LeT and other groups which have plans to carry out attacks in India in the near future, you are advised to track the whereabouts and monitor the activities of Indian Mujahideen (IM) absconders as well their associates hailing from your states," the MHA advisory said. Interestingly, the foreign intelligence agency also shared the information with Pakistani authorities and asked them to take necessary action if they found anyone suspicious. The home ministry asked the states to take note of the inputs and accordingly plan the security arrangements being made for the world cup matches, oil installations and the forthcoming assembly elections in five states to avoid any untoward incident. The al-Qaeda, which has close ties with a number of terrorist groups that had earlier carried out attacks in India, has extended support for terror attacks in India in the next few months. Intelligence agencies also suggested that Zabiuddin Ansari and his terrorist associates had in October 2010 done research in explosive chemicals and the processe used in the manufacture of detonators, explosives and household items that can be used to trigger blasts. The terrorists also studied all the eight world cup venues in India. According to the inputs, the terrorist group which has already entered the country could have a strength of 6 to 15 members. Union home secretary Gopal K Pillai has already spoken to the DGPs of a few states, including Maharashtra and Gujarat, and asked them to tighten security in all vital installations. Security in refineries in Jamnagar, Mumbai, Mangalore and Kochi, sea ports of western coasts, particularly Mundra and Mumbai, have been intensified. Indian Navy and Coast Guard have intensified vigil in the sea and are providing additional security to offshore oil installations and vessels containing oil. All coastal villages have been alerted and asked to inform the authorities if any of their fishing boats finds any suspicious activities in the sea. The government is also in the process of puttting up transponders in small fishing boats for verification of vessels and fishermen. Some transponders have already been installed in some bigger vessels. (DNA, 10/03/2011) 12 Maoists killed, 214 held, 44 surrendered in 2010 : White Paper The Maoists have unleashed violence and depredation of varying intensity in 19 districts of the Odisha badly affecting the overall governance as well as development. The State Government has no qualms in admitting the fact. Due to the effective anti-Maoist operations as many as 12 Maoists were killed and 214 Leftwing extremists have been arrested and as many as 44 Maoists have surrendered during the year 2010 according to the White Paper on crime situation in the State during 2010, 130 incidents of Maoists violence have occurred involving death of 75 persons including 22 security personnel and 53 civilians. During 2009 total 61 persons including 33 security men were killed in the Maoist violence In the White Paper on crime situation in Odisha circulated on Tuesday in the State Assembly by the Home Department for the year 2010, in the present scenario, the Left Wing extremists retain significant influence and operational capability in pockets of Malkangiri and Koraput districts in south Odisha and in areas bordering Saranda jungle in Rourkela police district. Besides, the outfit is trying to open up new fronts in Odisha-Chhattisgarh border by expanding its activities to districts Like Nabarangapur, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Bolangir, and Bargarh, the report said. The white paper also said that the Maoist oganisation is also trying to consolidate in Mayurbhanj district - Suliapada Chandua-Morada axis bordering West Midnapore district of West Bengal. The report said that to counter the Maoist menace, the State Government as part of integrated programmes, has made compulsory the anti-terrorist training for all the direct recruited personnel. Besides, the Government has constituted the Odisha Special Striking Force taking retired defence personnel to be deployed in Maoist affected areas. As part of its strengthening of personnel and infrastructure, the State Government has increased the number of police personnel in 83 Maoist affected areas with creation of 4,157 armed and 916 civil police posts. Besides, four Special Security Battalions have been set up to counter the Maoists. (Pioneer, 23/03/2011) 15 Naxals surrender in Maha In one of the biggest surrenders, 15 Naxals, including seven women, surrendered before the police on Sunday in Gadchiroli on Maharashtra Day. The Naxals also include a commander and two deputy

commanders. The 15 Naxals had expressed interest in surrendering before the police in the last week and in a function held at police headquarters ground in Gadchiroli surrendered before home minister R.R. Patil on Sunday. Suryam Gawde, 26, a commander since 2005 was also a secretary in the Gomani area committee. The two deputy commanders — Sukhdev Vadde, 26 and Savita Dhaniram, 23, have been active since 2004. The Naxals have cited various reasons for their surrender. “They have said that they have now realised how they were brainwashed into Naxalism. They also said that they were subjected to both physical and mental torture by their senior cadres. Some of them were also fed-up of always being at risk of getting killed by the police and moving in the jungle in severe climatic conditions without food for several days,” said inspector Shriganesh Kangude from Gadchiroli. One of the women Naxals, the police said, alleged that the senior cadre used them as pawns only to carry out violence. She went on to add that the senior members would just extort money by terrorising people. According to Mr Kangude, the police, after verifying their credentials would then arrange for the benefits given to the Naxals who surrender. (AA, 02/05/2011) Maoist ambush leaves IRB jawan dead Despite the agreement between the Government and Maoists for a ceasefire after the recent abduction of Malkangiri District Collector RV Krishna, in the Kandhamal district a jawan was killed and four were injured when Maoists ambushed security personnel during a combing operation on Tuesday night. The Maoists attacked a 20-member security party of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) in Kalingbadi forest under Daringbadi police station area killing one jawan and injuring four. However, the other jawans were successful in thwarting the ambush and returned safely to the base, said a senior police official. The body of the slain jawan RBH Thakuri was sent to his native place in Manipur and the injured jawans were admitted to hospital. Two tiffin bombs were recovered from the encounter spot and 18 persons, suspected to have links with Maoists, were detained, the police said. One injured jawan was identified as Rajiv Kanhar, bodyguard of Additional Superintendent of Police, Brijesh Kumar. Later, protesting the police action, Maoists blocked Daringbadi-Kerubadi and Daringbadi-Simanbadi roads by felling trees at three places, the police said. Meanwhile, in the Narayanpatna block in Koraput district though after the murder of Ganesh Behera, a member of peace committee formed protesting the violent activities of Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh(CMAS) Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon, the Bandhugaon police failed to trace the accused and investigation is on informed Ajay Behera, Inspector In Charge of Bandhugaon police station. Sources reveal that, on Saturday night, when Ganesh along with his family went to witness a tribal drama in Bali Yatra (tribal festival) at Mohaguda village in Kutraguda village of Bandhugaon block of Koraput district, at midnight two unknown persons in civil dress asked Ganesh to step out as they wanted to talk to him and took him out from the yatra place. Later they gunned down Ganesh saying they were Maoists and as Ganesh was involved in anti-social activities and was a police informer as well, he was being punished. Ganesh was a contractor, and after threat by the members of CMAS who also damaged his house situated Mohaguda village, he left the village and was staying at Rayagada town. Ganesh went to witness the Bali Yatra and getting the opportunity the Maoists shot him dead. The Bandhugaon police have seized three empty catridges and after postmortem handed over Ganesh's body to his relatives, after registering a case No 19, 2011, police sources said. (Pioneer, 04/05/2011) Eleven cops killed in Maoist trap Weakening momentum of the Centre-sponsored Operation Green Hunt in Jharkhand became apparent on Tuesday when the CPI (Maoist) members ambushed security personnel at three different areas in the State and eventually killed 11 members of the forces in Lohardaga district during a fierce encounter. The encounters took place in Silli area of Ranchi district, Jhumra hills under Bokaro district and Senha area of Lohardaga, which is barely 60 kms away from the State capital. The Lohardaga encounter began at around 10.30 in the morning when the security forces were on a regular patrol exercise under Senha Police Station of Lohardaga, police said. According to police, landmines were planted in the two

kilometers stretch between Hosmar Jungle and Seka village, where the encounter took place. The Maoists first blew up a landmine killing a couple of security personnel and then a fierce gunbattle began, they added. IG (Operations) and State Police spokesperson RK Mallik said, “The encounter continued till 2 in the afternoon when the forces succeeded in overpowering the rebels and forced them to flee.” “Although the forces fought the battle bravely for about four hours, eight CRPF personnel and three jawans of the State police lost their lives. The number of injured persons is said to be 26,” he added. The injured security persons were hurriedly brought to Ranchi by a special BSF chopper and were admitted to Apollo hospital. At the time of filing of report, senior officials of the State police and the CRPF were camping at the spot. Meanwhile, in a fierce encounter a temporary transit camp of the extremists was busted by the security personal at Jhumara hillocks, about 65 kms from district headquarter of Bokaro on Tuesday. About 1100 bullets (500 by cops and 600 by extremists) were used in the crossfire which lasted more than four hours (started at 10.30 am), about 4 kms from Rehwan between Suwarkatwa and Beltharwa under Mahutand police station, said Saket Singh, SP Bokaro. “The extremists, about 40 in numbers, fled the site leaving behind explosives, grenades, camera flash, LED mechanism, utensils, milk containers, half-cooked food, gas cylinder, electric wires, battery and destroyed those at site”, he added. Except Assistant Commandant of CRPF JP Yadav, who sustained bullet injury, there was no casualty reported, police said. Immediately after the incident, Yadav was rushed to RIMS, Ranchi in a chopper, police said. In Ranchi district, another encounter took place at Rahe block of Sataki village in which Silli Dy SP Anand Joseph Tigga was hit by a bullet in the wee hours of Tuesday. The security personnel had intelligence input that a squad of CPI (Maoist) Zonal Commander Kundan Pahan was in the particular area and their movement was monitored by the intelligence department. A joint operation was launched on Monday night in the area. The operation was led by Silli DSP Tigga. As soon as the police reached the forests, the already waiting Maoists opened fire at the security force. The Maoists were surrounded by two sides by the district police and on one side by one company of CRPF jawans. After engaging the Maoists for thirty minutes in encounter, Tigga was hit by a bullet in his stomach and was immediately moved to Apollo hospital by road where a team of doctors operated him. Later in the evening he was declared to be out of danger. (Pioneer, 04/05/2011) Arming SPOs to fight naxals a dangerous game: SC NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the Centre and the Chhattisgarh government were "playing a dangerous game" by recruiting tribal youth as special police officers (SPOs) and arming them with sophisticated weapons to fight naxals. "Over 18 years of age, class five pass and two months training to become an SPO? Is that all that is required to handle sophisticated weapons? What is their accountability? You are playing a dangerous game. If these so-called SPOs turn against you, then God save the country," said a Bench of Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar. Appearing for petitioner Nandini Sundar who wanted investigations into the alleged atrocities committed by vigilante groups like Salwa Judum and SPOs, senior advocate Ashok Desai said a proper probe into the attack on Swami Agnivesh is not being carried out by the state government. Contesting his claim, state counsel Atul Jha said the police have already arrested seven accused and the eighth one -- T Vijay Naidu -- has been shot dead by naxalites. The Raman Singh government filed an affidavit on SPOs and said they serve as an auxiliary force and force multiplier. "The institution of SPOs has passed the test of time in many states in India. In extraordinary conflict situations of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states, SPOs have proved their role," it said. The state needed 70 battalions of troops to fight the naxal menace. "At present the state has 24 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) battalions, 6 India Reserve battalions and 10 state battalions. The shortage of 30 battalions is partially compensated by the SPOs. However their number had been kept to the minimum at 6,500 and they are recruited and deployed only in naxal-affected areas," it said. It said SPOs are mainly appointed to strengthen security against naxal attack on relief camps. Since 2005, there had been 41 such attacks in Bijapur and Dantewada districts in which 47

persons were killed. SPOs, who serve as guides, spotters and translators for the central forces, are given arms only to act in self-defence, the state said. (TOI, 05/05/2011) Six killed, four injured in Maoist attack In a shocking attack on civilians, six members of a marriage party, including two women and five-year-old boy, were killed and four others injured, when Maoists blew up a jeep in which they were travelling, in Dhanora taluka of Gadchiroli district in eastern Maharashtra. The landmine-triggered blast, which prima facie is believed to have been sparked by the "mistaken identity" of the occupants in the jeep, took place at around 2 pm near Tavi Tola village, located 125 km away from Gadchiroli, according to reports reaching the State capital in the evening. Informed Gadchiroli-based police sources said that the Maoists' group behind the attack had specifically targeted the Tata Sumo jeep carrying members of the marriage party, given that the saboteurs had let pass another vehicle minutes earlier before triggering the remote control of the landmine to explode the jeep. Those killed and injured in the powerful explosion are said to belong three to four few Bengali families. They were travelling from Rajanandangaon in Chattisgarh to Chandrapur town in the neighbouring Maharashtra for the marriage, when a local naxal group triggered the landmine using a remote control. While the bridegroom identified as Manoram Sarkar (24) was among the four persons who survived the attack, six others were not so lucky. The deceased were identified as Charulatha Sarkar (70), Santosh Verma (25), Pushapalatha Verma (42), Harsh Akash (5), Shankar Biswas (30) and jeep driver Rahim. (Hindu, 06/05/2011) Poster war against Chhattisgarh Reds RAIPUR: A new anti-Maoist campaign started in Chhattisgarh last week with the appearance of posters and newspaper advertisements targeted against Maoists and their sympathizers. Neither the posters nor the advertisements have any mention of printer, publisher or sponsor. The posters first surfaced in Narayanpur district last Thursday. They featured photos of activists Aruna Roy, Swami Agnivesh and Arundhati Roy carrying a statement condemning the killing of MNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari by Maoists. It ended with a denunciation of Naxalites as "enemies of both development and poor". On Monday, a local Hindi daily — Chhattisgarh — carried a quarter page advertisement. It began by congratulating the family of Binayak Sen on his safe return. "But only coffins returned to our homes, courtesy the bullets and blasts of those for whom Sen has sympathies," the advertisement read. The editor of the daily, Sunil Kumar, said, "It was a paid insertion. It has been sponsored by a social organization and endorsed by some of the families of martrys (victims of Maoist violence). The sponsors didn't want to disclose their identity since they harboured some fears." The same edition also carried an opinion piece on the report submitted in the Supreme Court last week by activist Harsh Mander. In his capacity as commissioner in Right to Food cases, Mander recommended that the SC direct the Chhattisgarh government to restore development in 644 conflict-hit villages in the state. "Harsh Sahab sees a civil war-like situation, the absence of development, but not Maoist violence... that has destroyed schools and roads and forced the development machinery to flee," the piece said. (TOI, 06/05/2011) Kerala naxals plot in Chhattisgarh A special conference of the Maoists active in the tribal areas in Kerala was held at a secret location in Chhattisgarh from April 20 to 25. Sources said senior leaders of the CPI (Maoist), including its general secretary Ganapathy, spoke in the conference. The meeting was held in the Maoist stronghold as it was felt that Kerala was not safe for holding such a high-profile meeting. The focus of discussion was the document on rectification process prepared by the central committee of the party. All the states except Kerala and Punjab had completed their special conferences much earlier. Sources said around 20 underground Maoists, including its former state secretary Roopesh alias Praveen alias Mohan, attended the conference. Roopesh, against whom there is a case for harbouring Maoist leader Malla Raji Reddy, has been given some assignments in the Dandakaranya region. He and his wife Shyna have been

absconding ever since the police launched a hunt after the arrest of Reddy at Ankamali in 2007. The conference of the Maoists in the urban areas will be held soon, after which there will be a national conference of all the units. The state committee of the Maoists has been divided into tribal and the urban committees at a meeting held near Suratkal in Karnataka two months ago. The tribal areas in Kerala are brought under the newly-constituted South India Regional Committee, which is headed by Abhay, the central committee member (AA, 09/05/2011) Top Maoist Azad eludes dragnet again Though the Commissionerate Police on Monday arrested a woman Runita Badamajhi alias Pramila from a slum in the Nayapalli area they lost a great opportunity to nab top Maoist Azad alias Azad Duna Keshab Rao, who managed to give them a slip. Sources said the woman claimed to be the wife of the dreaded rebel, is not his legal wife but lover. The Special Intelligence Wing (SIW) which collects intelligence about the Maoists and keeps a tab on their activities had in fact tipped off the local police about the house from where Pramila was arrested. The SIW had information that Azad was coming to the city to meet her as she was ill and was to undergo treatment at a private hospital. As per the law, the local police have to be informed. However, on getting an inkling of the police raid, the number two of Bansdhara division Azad eluded the police dragnet. Though most of time intelligence failure is blamed on many incidents, in this case it was nothing but an operational failure. Besides, after her arrest Pramila should have been handed over to the SIW for interrogation as they have loads of information on the Maoists and their activities. She could have revealed valuable information, but instead, the local police forwarded her to the court. Now, looking for Azad is just like looking for a needle in a hay stack, said the sources. Azad has been recently chargesheeted in the brutal killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati by the Crime Branch. Besides, he is involved in various sensational attacks in Odisha. Meanwhile, a caller who claimed to be the secretary of the Odisha State organising Committee of CPI(Maoists) Sunil, which is believed to be pseudo name of Sabyasachi Panda, told a television channel that Azad, Pramila and two of their associates have been arrested by the police for which they have called for an Odisha bandh on May 14. But reliable sources denied it. Apart from Pramila nobody has been arrested or detained. (Pioneer, 12/05/2011) Maoist landmine kills 5 CRPF men At least five CRPF personnel were killed late on Tuesday in a powerful landmine blast on Sukuma-Arrabore National Highway in Dantewada district, about 500 km from Raipur. “Death of five CRPF personnel in a landmine blast has been confirmed,” DGP Vishwaranjan told The Pioneer. Police ADG Ram Niwas said a CRPF team — led by Commandent Arvind Rai and eight personnel — were returning from a location in Keralapal area for shifting their base. However, the follow guards vehicle was caught in the explosion, killing five personnel and injuring three others. The injured CRPF personnel were rushed to Jadalpur. This is the first time Maoists used a landmine during at night. The Tuesday night blast took place between Sukuma and Dornapal which was, despite Maoist presence, considered relatively safe. “Maoists were looking for an opportunity to strike but failed during the recent Lok Sabha by-election in Bastar,” a police source said. Chief Minister Raman Singh condemned the killing. (Pioneer, 18/05/2011) Maoists kill 7 policemen in Chhattisgarh, call for general strike Seven policemen were killed in a Maoist rebel landmine blast in Chhattisgarh, police said on Wednesday, as the insurgents called for a 48-hour strike in six states across the country. The Maoists are active in the country's poor, rural areas, and widespread violence in mineral-rich eastern districts has worried investors and disrupted mining and rail transport. The landmine attack, the latest salvo in a four-decades long insurgency that has killed thousands, came late on Tuesday hours after the rebels called for a two-day general strike from May 21 to demand the release of three of their leaders. "It was a powerful blast that ripped the roof off a vehicle carrying paramilitary personnel. Five men of the CRPF (federal police) second battalion were killed on the spot and two died a few hours later," district police chief Ankit Garg

told Reuters. Last April, the government faced strong criticism that security forces were ill-prepared to deal with the insurgent threat after 75 police were killed in an ambush in Chhattisgarh that led to the home minister tendering his resignation. A recent crackdown on rebel-controlled areas has seen a decrease in attacks, raising hopes the government was winning the battle against what the prime minister has described as India's biggest internal security threat. The Maoists' violent campaign against the government began as a peasant revolt in the late 1960s. The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and the disenfranchised. (DNA, 19/05/2011) 4 policemen, 20 naxalites killed in clashes Four police personnel, including two Special Police Officers and over 20 naxalites were killed in two different encounters in Gadchiroli district on Thursday, police said. “At around 7.30 a.m. on Thursday in Nalgonda jungle, four C60 search parties were ambushed by naxalites. The ambush and exchange of fire went on for more than 1 hour and 15 minutes. One police constable was killed and two were injured,” Rahul Sheth, Gadchiroli Additional Superintendent of Police, Operations, told The Hindu. “Naik police constable Chinna Gilla Venta (30) was killed in the naxal attack,” police said. Mr. Sheth said the injured police personnel were evacuated by a helicopter. “They were taken to the hospital in Gadchiroli. The injuries were minor,” he said. He said 12-14 naxals were killed. “When our police parties chased the naxals, they ran away and left behind two bodies. An AK-47 magazine was found on one of the bodies, indicating that the deceased was a senior commander.” In the other encounter, Mr. Sheth said two C60 teams which had gone for a search operation from Tadgao post in Gadchiroli were attacked by naxalites. “At around 9.15 a.m., they discovered an IED [Improvised Explosive Device] on the Tadgao-Bhamragad road. When they proceeded to the Bejur hillock to conduct a search operation, the naxals sitting in ambush attacked them. We lost two Special Police Officers and one constable in that attack which continued for around two hours,” he said. “Around eight to 10 naxals were killed. But their colleagues took away their bodies with them,” he added. The police did not recover any weapon as “the naxals ran away with all their weapons.” Police personnel killed in the second encounter were: constable Munsi Chukku Pungati, Special Police Officers Sudhakar Munsi Mattavi and Surendra Arjun Kothare. (Hindu, 20/05/2011) Naxal menace remains a major problem: Manmohan Sing h Admitting there is a development deficit in areas affected by Left-wing extremism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said his government is determined to address the deficit, while maintaining that the menace remains a "major problem." In his foreword in the "Government of the UPA: Report to the People", Singh said the UPA government has always adopted a nuanced approach in dealing with Left-wing extremism. "We will deal firmly with extremism but we also recognise that there is a development deficit in the areas affected by left-wing extremism and we are determined to address this deficit," Singh said. He said the government launched an Integrated Action Plan for accelerated development of 60 selected Tribal and Backward districts in 2010-11 which will be continued in 2011-12 also. On external security, Singh said the government continued its focus on modernisation of armed forces and indigenous production of advanced weapon systems. "During 2010-11, the indigenously developed light combat aircraft, Tejas, was cleared for operations by the Air Force and the first indigenously designed and built stealth frigate -- INS Shivalik was commissioned," Singh said. He said two regiments of the indigenous main battle tank, Arjun, were operationalised by the Army. The report noted that except for an attack on foreign tourists in Delhi and a low intensity bomb blast in Varanasi, there was no major terrorist incident in 2010-11. Dwelling on the internal security measures taken by the government, the report said the National Investigation Agency has now been fully operationalised, with headquarters in Delhi and branch offices in Cyberabad and Guwahati. "23 cases have been entrusted to it, out of which charge-sheets have been filed in 15 cases," the report says. On steps to counter Left-wing extremism, the report said these included setting up of a unified command in each of the states of Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand

and Orissa, and launching of a new scheme to assist State governments in construction or strengthening of 400 fortified police stations at Rs2 crore each in left wing extremism affected district. The report said to ensure the defence preparedness of the country, the UPA government continued its focus on modernisation of the armed forces and indigenous production of advanced weapons systems. "A new Defence Production Policy was drawn up, with the objective of achieving self reliance in defence production," the report said. (DNA, 22/05/2011) Centre pitches special medals for forces fighting M aoists NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to award 'special duty medals' to central paramilitary force personnel deployed in Maoist-hit areas as well. At present, such medals are only meant for personnel working in the northeast and Jammu & Kashmir. The decision was taken after Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) chief K Vijay Kumar recently wrote to cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, pitching for a special Left-wing extremism medal as the situation in the Naxal-affected areas was far more challenging than in Jammu & Kashmir and northeast. "The officers and men who are continuously at war with Naxalites in the interiors deserve appreciation. In this context, we had proposed instituting a special medal for the men working in Left-wing extremism operations. Presently, we have special duty medals for personnel working in northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. "As you are aware, Left-wing extremism operations are much more risky and challenging and, therefore, this medal will be a great boon to improve the morale and functioning of the personnel in Maoist operations," Kumar had written in his letter to the cabinet secretary. To drive home his point, the CRPF chief also gave comparative figures of fatalities of security forces in last three years in Jammu and Kashmir, northeast and Maoist-hit areas, pointing out that more personnel had sacrificed their lives in war against Naxalites than those fighting terrorists or insurgents in the northeast and in the Valley. "The officers and men who are continuously at war with Naxalites deserve appreciation... Anti-Maoist operations are much more risky and challenging and, therefore, this medal will be a great boon to improve their morale. (TOI, 23/05/2011) 10 cops killed in Naxal ambush At least ten policemen, including an additional superintendent of police (ASP), were feared killed in a Naxal ambush inside a forest at Ammamala in Raipur district late on Monday evening, police said. “A 10-member search party led by ASP Rajesh Pawar was ambushed by Naxals at Ammamala when they were returning after conducting search operation in Dantunama area bordering Sunabeda reserve forest in Orissa. All the 10 policemen were missing. We are not able to maintain contact with them since last one hour. Two search and rescue teams of security personnel rushed to the area to locate them,” additional director general of police (ADG) (anti-Naxal operations) Ramniwas told this newspaper. However, a senior police officer told this newspaper requesting anonymity that all the 10 members of the search team may have been killed in the Maoist attack. “We have received preliminary reports that all the ten policemen were killed in the Naxal ambush. We are waiting for confirmation of the report,” the police officer said. According to him, the search team was returning in a trekker when their vehicle developed snag in the forest. The Maoists, who were hiding in the forest, first triggered a landmine blast targeting them and then opened fire on them killing all the 10 policemen. (AA, 24/05/2011) Nine policemen killed in Maoist ambush A senior police officer and eight constables were killed when nearly 250 Maoists ambushed them in a jungle at Gariabandh, along the Chhattisgarh-Orissa border, 150 km from here. The 10-member police team, led by Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Pawar, was ambushed on Monday evening in the Sonabed jungle, which is in Chhattisgarh, but close to the Orissa border, Inspector-General of Police Rajesh Mishra said on Tuesday. Nine policemen, including Mr. Pawar, were killed, and one policeman went missing. Mr. Mishra said the Maoists also hacked the bodies of some policemen. The team was on its way to Sosing village, about 15 km from the jungle area, after being informed about Maoists present

there. The policemen's vehicle broke down and they boarded a tractor and proceeded to Anamore, 15 km from Sosing. As the Maoists got information about the vehicle breakdown and the changed route, they launched a surprise attack. — PTI (Hindu, 25/05/2011) Ambush confirms new Maoist front along Orissa-Chhat tisgarh border RAIPUR: For long, it has been suspected that the Maoists have opened a new front along the border of central Chhattisgarh and Orissa. An ambush on Monday confirmed that. Nine policemen, including a young officer, were killed, just 140 kilometres from the state capital. Early Tuesday morning, the bodies were found splayed in the bushes on both sides of a mud road. The bodies looked battered, and in one case, the skull had come apart, said an eyewitness. Not far, stood a Sumo vehicle, ridden with bullet holes on the left rear. The team of Chhattisgarh policemen had come under sharp Maoist fire, 14 kilometres from the state border, near Sonabeda in Nuapara district of Orissa. They had travelled from Gariaband police station, part of Raipur district, 120 kilometres from the state capital. Gariaband adjoins Nuapara, and shares a contiguous forest area. The ambush took place in the evening, between 4-5 pm, but late night, the police of both states were still in the dark, struggling to piece together what had happened based on TV reports. Tuesday morning, a team reached the spot and found nine bodies, including that of additional superintendent of police, Rajesh Pawar, four constables and three special police officers. One constable, Holaram Sahu, could not be traced. "We are not sure whether he is dead or alive," said Vishwa Ranjan, Director General of Police. "He could have escaped, or taken hostage, or maybe he had left the group earlier". The team of plainclothes policemen had travelled to Orissa not for an operation, but to "verify information". The ASP had been told that two Maoists had deserted their group and come home in a border village. "He wanted to win them over," said an officer. But their vehicle broke down, a little ahead of Sonabeda. They towed it to a village repair shop with the help of a tractor. They had left the shop at 4 pm and barely travelled a distance of one kilometre when they came under attack. "Their cover might have been blown in the village. The military company of the Maoists was possibly nearby and took position as soon as it was alerted. Or maybe this had all along been a trap," said the officer. The Maoists took away the weapons of the team, including AK and Insas rifles. Those who have seen the bodies said there were sharp cuts that indicated mutiliation, but DGP Vishwa Ranjan said this had been ruled out by the post mortem investigation. "The fire came from close range, five metres away. It can break open a skull, and leave sharp injury marks," he said. (TOI, 25/05/2011) 50 dead in 25 days: A bloody May in Chattisgarh Red zone RAIPUR: A burst of light machine gun fire rips apart the bodies of nine policemen; a vehicle carrying CRPF jawans is lifted in the air by a powerful explosion, seven jawans die; another landmine blast waylays a wedding baraat, killing six of the groom's family, including a four year old child. May has been a bloody month in terms of Maoist violence. Within 25 days, 50 lives have been lost in or around Chhattisgarh. Thirty-three of those killed were security personnel, with the rest being primarily civilians. If you account for casualties among Maoists, that cannot be confirmed in the absence of bodies, the toll crosses the 50 mark. Barring one episode, none of the deaths made it to the front pages of national newspapers. Scattered across disparate districts, and tucked away from the national limelight, the deaths are symptomatic of the insistent insurgency engulfing Chhattisgarh from, literally, all four sides. "If 20 people die in one incident, everyone takes notice, not when they die in one's and two's over 20 days," says Ajai Sahni, director, Institute for Conflict Management, a New Delhi based think tank, who decries the way the national response lurches from one watershed event to another, ignoring persistent routinized violence. For Purnima Sarkar, May 4 was no routine day; it was the day of her son's much anticipated wedding. Early morning, her son Manoram woke up and dressed up in a sherwani. Accompanied by his doting 70 year old grandmother Tarulata, and other relatives, he left their home in Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh, and headed for Chandrapur in Maharashtra, where his fiance waited, dressed up in bridal finery. The wedding party, a convoy of two Sumo vehicles, had crossed the border into Gadchiroli district

of Maharashtra, when a landmine explosion hit the second car. The vehicle lurched in the air and landed with a thud, amidst a volley of gunfire. Moments later, Manoram walked out, with blood splattered on his sherwani. His grandmother and five others were dead, including a four year old child. The wedding was called off. The Maoists are yet to issue a statement, accepting responsibility, or offering regret. "It appears to be a case of mistaken identity," said R K Vij, IG, Durg. The driver of the vehicle had earlier driven police cars and Sumos are often used by the police. Ten days later, on May 14, another wedding was interrupted, in Gumla district of Jharkhand, bordering Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district in the north. Gunmen broke into the small mandap and shot dead the groom and four others. "My son had returned home for the marriage around a fortnight ago from Punjab where he had gone for a job," the groom's mother Chumdru Oraon told TOI. Next day, four people were killed in same district. Both instances involved uniformed gunmen, suspected to be cadres of rival Maoist groups, and there were reports of rivalry and land disputes underlying the killings. Earlier in the month, 11 security personnel had been killed in an encounter with Maoists in neighbouring Lohardaga district. From the north, the trail of violence travelled south to Dantewada, Chhattisgarh's most intense battleground. Arvind Rai, commandant of CRPF's 2nd battalion, left his station at Sukma, on May 17, with a group of jawans. He travelled a short distance to Kerlapal, on the badly broken national highway 211, to inspect new barracks built to accomodate jawans who had to vacate a school building on the Supreme Court's orders. As Rai headed back, in a Scorpio that led a convoy of three vehicles, the second vehicle, a Tavera, was hit by a powerful IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast. Reduced to a carcass, the vehicle was flung 50 feet away. Five bodies were found inside, the driver's torso hung from a tree. Another jawan succumbed to injuries in Jagdalpur hospital. "Four of the jawans were from Jammu and Kashmir," said Pankaj Singh, CRPF IG. "Another from Orissa, one from Rae Bareilly". The next day, in neighbouring Bijapur district, Maoists opened fire at policemen who were attending a wedding reception inside a Salwa Judum camp. Constable Pavan Mandavi, was killed and special police officer Ramaiyya was abducted. Next day, Ramaiyya's body was found at an isolated spot, said R N Das, the district SP. Special police officers are local adivasi youth who earn just 3000 rupees a month. The very next morning, less than 100 kilometres away from Bijapur, across the border in Maharashtra's Bhamragarh tehsil of Gadhcroli district, Maoists killed a commando of an elite anti Maoist squad. Hours later, three other policemen died in another nearby skirmish. All three were in their twenties, two were SPOs. Once again, violence ricocheted from one border to another, with the latest police casualties taking place on the Chhattisgarh's eastern border with Orissa, just 140 kilometres from the state capital, inside a contiguous forest area that connects Gariaband, the far end of Raipur district, to Orissa's Nuapara district. On Monday, ten policemen, led by Rajesh Pawar, additional superintedent of police had crossed over into Orissa to meet Maoist deserters, based on a tip off. Their vehicle broke down, and as they returned, they were ambushed at a bend in the forest road. It took half a day for the police to recover nine bodies, lying in a bloody heap next to a bullet ridden Sumo. In one case, the skull had come apart. "The ASP's body had been riddled by 20 bullets," said an officer who visited the spot. As grieving families reached Gariaband to collect the bodies, they were told the bodies had been airlifted to the state capital for state honours by the chief minister. Most relatives burst out in anger, but then clambered on cars to Raipur. "I have nothing to say," said Nanderam, a retired school teacher who broke down when he was finally handed over the body of his son, constable Bhishma. "We respond to Chinatnar (when 76 CRPF jawans killed in one ambush), but we do not respond to 1110 casualties in 2010, or 900 in 2009, or the 300 casualties that have already taken place in 2011, 60 of them in Chhattisgarh alone," says Ajai Sahni. "Over the years, fatalities have been escalating across areas affected with Left wing extremism. That should be the principal measure or significant indexof the threat that Maoists pose rather than transient incidents". (TOI, 26/05/2011) Maoist couple surrenders at Puri A hardcore Maoist couple surrendered before the police here on Sunday. Puri Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar presented the duo before the media. The couple was identified as Aniruddha Behera alias

Prakash (36) of Arilo village under the Nimapada police limits in Puri district while his wife Rajalaxmi Biswal alias Nikku (22) hailing from Paikakula village of Jagatsinghpur district. Aniruddha was a member of the Maoist Ghumusar Division while his spouse was acting as bodyguard of top Maoist Sabyasachi Panda as well as the secretary to the cultural committee of the Ghumusar Division. Aniruddha had joined into the Maoist ranks in 2006 and Rajalaxmi in 2007 and they came close to each other while working together at several places. They wanted to marry, which was opposed by Sabyasachi Panda. When they got married, they were subjected to mental and physical tortures and demoted from their ranks. They felt disgusted and resolved to quit the organisation, said Rajalaxmi to mediapersons. The women cadre in the Maoist organisation are often tortured and sexually exploited by the senior male cadre, she said. Aniruddha and Rajalaxmi were involved in the attack on the Nayagarh police station and armoury and eight other incidents of Maoist violence, said SP Sanjay Kumar. While the police claimed that the couple surrendered, some sources said that they were first nabbed from the house of one of their relatives at Saunpur-Agarpada under the Pipili police station during a police operation on Saturday midnight. Aniruddha and Rajalaxmi were later taken for interrogation, the sources said. (Pioneer, 30/05/2011) I am not a sympathiser or opposer of Naxals: Binaya k Sen Human rights activist Binayak Sen said here on Monday that there was no question of his being a Naxal sympathiser. “Neither am I a Naxal sympathiser nor [an] opposer of Naxals,” Dr. Sen told journalists at the Press Club. “I believe that violence, either of the state or the non-state actors, does not cure any problem,” he said. Launching a scathing attack on Salwa Judum, he said that it had become a “Frankenstein's monster which can no longer be controlled. The writ of the government no longer works with them.” He said that contrary to the Chhattisgarh government's claim in the Supreme Court that the Salwa Judum had ceased to exist, it still continued its operations. He said that after seeing the widespread displacement of villagers in 2005-06, human rights activists published their findings in a report ‘When a state makes war against its own people.' “It [Salwa Judum] is not a people's programme. It is a programme funded by the government, planned and executed by it,” Dr. Sen said. Dr. Sen talked mainly about three issues: hunger problem in India, problem of displacement and land acquisition, and sedition. Dr. Sen said the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and other human rights organisations planned a public campaign to get the sedition law repealed. Talking about the experience in Chhattisgarh, he said, “The sedition law is being used to suppress the voice of people who are protesting against the programme of forcible displacement.” “The sedition law is not befitting free people in a free polity,” he said, adding that the aim of the PUCL's public campaign is to gather one million signatures against the law and present them to the government in the winter session. Opposing the land acquisition Bill, which is slated to be introduced in Parliament in the monsoon session, he said, “This is the first time that we are regarding it as legitimate — to take from the poor and give to the rich.” “Public purpose, which underlines land acquisition, is jettisoned [in the land acquisition policy]. We have a situation in which the government is acting as a guarantor to the process of expropriation of access of common property resources across the country and handing over those resources to private interests. This is leading to inequity,” Dr. Sen said. Asked about the situation in Jaitapur, he said the issue there was not only about land acquisition. “There are more complex issues about Jaitapur. The people there do not want a nuclear power plant, they do not want to give their land for the project.” “After Fukushima, I think, anyone who wants to put up a nuclear power plant anywhere today, in my humble opinion, should have their heads examined,” he said. Responding to being appointed as a steering committee member of the Planning Commission, he said, “I am grateful to the commission for appointing me.” He refused to comment on the objections raised by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. Asked about the Bharatiya Janata Party's opposition to his appointment, he said it was a wrong assumption. “It is a misconception. Ram Jethmalani had come to the Bilaspur High Court to fight my case.” Talking about the high levels of malnutrition in the country, he said the dimensions of the problem of hunger in India had not been understood. “Large sections of the Indian population are in a chronic state of famine today. This is a shocking revelation which has major

implications on the health of our nation.” He said the Body Mass Index (BMI), which signifies the nutritional status, was low in many communities. “A BMI below 18.5 is indicative of chronic under- nutrition. According to the data published by the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau of the National Institute of Nutrition, the BMI of 37 per cent of India's total adult population is below 18.5,” Dr. Sen said. He said the index was below 18.5 for 50 per cent of the adult population in Scheduled Tribes and for 60 per cent of the adult population in Scheduled Castes. “According to the Sachar committee report, large sections of the minority community have a BMI below 18.5,” Dr. Sen said. Pointing to an equally grim picture in child nutrition, he said 47 per cent of the children aged below five were underweight. “They are malnourished under considerations of weight for age. One-third of our newborns are malnourished at birth.” He noted that malnourishment at birth contributed significantly to problems during adult life. “The World Health Organisation says that if more than 40 per cent of any community has a BMI below 18.5, then that community should be considered a community in famine. If we apply this to the data published by the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau, then large sections of our population are in a chronic state of malnutrition,” he said. He said that such large sections of malnourished population were surviving because of access to common property resources. “And now they are being removed by the governments in power from accessing common property resources,” he said, expressing concern. He also opposed conditional cash transfer which has been proposed instead of the Public Distribution System. “I am not an expert economist, but taking the cue from economists like Jean Dreze and Amit Bhaduri, whose judgment I trust, I oppose cash transfers,” he said. He said that through the Right to Food Movement, they were raising the demand for universalised PDS, instead of targeted PDS. “There has to be equity in food supply. Hunger has never been associated with the availability of food grains. It is related to failure of entitlements. We have enough food.” (Hindu, 31/05/2011) ‘Full support to Chhattisgarh, Orissa' Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday offered Orissa and Chhattisgarh the Centre's full support to face the challenge of Maoists. Earlier, he held an hour-long meeting with Chief Ministers Naveen Patnaik and Raman Singh, the police chiefs of the two States and top officials of the Ministry, and reviewed the security situation in the States. Joint operations of the Central and State police forces would be launched against the Maoists along the inter-State borders, he said. “We have made very clear that no operation will be conducted without the complements of the State police. The earlier practice has completely been discontinued for a year and a half. Now all operations are conducted by the paramilitary forces with the complements of State police. All operations now are joint operations,” Mr. Chidambaram, flanked by Mr. Patnaik and Dr. Singh, told a press conference. The Home Minister said violent incidents had been reported in areas falling under 270 police stations in 64 districts in eight States. “However, the number of incidents and the number of casualties are lower than that in the corresponding period last year,” he said in a statement. Up to June 14, 2011, there were 811 incidents (1,025 last year) resulting in 270 deaths (473 last year). Of the 270 killed, 190 were civilians (296 last year) and 80 security forces personnel (177 last year). Mr. Chidambaram said the CPI (Maoist) and other left-wing extremist groups continued to target and kill civilians after branding them police informers. Mr. Chidambaram said left-wing extremist groups continued to target infrastructure and businesses. “This year there were 13 attacks on railway property; 18 telephone exchanges and towers were attacked; four panchayat bhavans and 12 school buildings were destroyed; and 82 roads and culverts were also damaged.” The security forces confronted the challenges of left-wing extremists with “courage and restraint.” There had been 125 encounters and 78 extremists neutralised. Besides, 883 extremists had been arrested, 243 had surrendered and 315 arms recovered. The security forces had apprehended top leaders of the CPI (Maoist). Of the 14 politburo members, seven were arrested. Subsequently, one escaped from a jail in Bihar and another jumped bail after he was released by a court in Andhra Pradesh. As many as 11 members of the central committee were also arrested and were in judicial custody. Chhattisgarh had reported 218 incidents with 90 deaths and Orissa 84 incidents with 26 deaths. Although the numbers

were lower than that in last year, the level of violence was unacceptable. “The Central government has offered its full support to the two State governments to face the challenge of left-wing extremism through a two-pronged strategy of development and police action,” Mr. Chidambaram said. On the development side, under the Integrated Action Plan of 2010-11 and 2011-12, for which Rs. 55 crore had been allotted to each of the 60 affected districts, 18,724 works were taken up in Chhattisgarh and 10,427 in Orissa. Of these, 2,237 works in Chhattisgarh and 2,693 works in Orissa had been completed. The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister dismissed suggestions that Naxal violence had hit the inflow of investment in the State, saying his government had received 2,000 applications for setting up industries. (Hindu, 15/06/2011) 10 Maoists surrender VISAKHAPATNAM: Ten Maoists, including two dalam members and six armed militia members surrendered before the rural SP G Srinivas here on Monday. Bakuri Kumari alias Mangeli, 19, a member of the Korukonda area committee, which played a pivotal role in the kidnap of Malkangiri district collector Vineel Krishna, and Pangi Sobhan, member of the Galikonda area committee surrendered before the police as they were fed up with the ideology of Maoists. Kumari, a resident of Limmachettu village in Darakonda panchayat of GK Veedhi mandal, has joined the Maoist party in 2009 and was involved in Killamkota exchange of fire and Cheruvuru encounter where four Maoists died in the gun battle with the security forces. Armed militia members Pangi Arjuna Rao, Pangi Rambabu, Dippala Prasad, Vantala Appa Rao, Muvvala Sanyasi Rao and Sivarathri Tulasi, and two others Jarta Swami Dora and Pangi Malleswara Rao came over ground to help their families and lead a normal life. (TOI, 07/06/2011) War of supremacy between Naxal groups claim more in nocent lives The gory war of supremacy between CPI (Maoist) and its splinter groups is taking lives of tribal youths. Jharkhand seems to have turned into a battle ground wherein these youths are being recruited on salary despite threat to their lives. On an average, the ratio of the murders is 1:6, in which one is the trained armed rebel while six are the newly or the forced recruits in the group. Only last year some 70 lives were lost in this war of supremacy, in which just nine were unidentified rebels. With over a thousand deaths in past five years, the scenario seems to be getting worse as per the official data. Adding to the trouble, the decision of Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist) to curb the activity of the splinter groups, points to even more bloodshed in the coming time. It all started in 2004 with the merger of People's War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the formation of CPI (Maoist). The first splinter group came into power. The rebels who were unable to accept the merger formed Tritaya Sammelan Prastuti Committee. After this Dinesh Gope — a shooter of the infamous Samrath gang — formed a gang that came to be known as Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT). The gang has acquired a more ugly repute in at least four of the districts of Jharkhand--Ranchi, Khunti, Simdega and Gumla. The outfit, which changed its name to People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) has joined hands with some criminals gangs of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, is a matter of big tension for the State police. Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC), Swatantra Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (SJPC), Sangharsh Jan Shakti Morcha (SJSM), Adivasi Liberation Army (ALA) and Sashastra People's Morcha (SPM) are also minor players in the game. If figures of death could be a yardstick, more than 90 persons have so far been killed in the ongoing gangwar at Ranchi, Simdega, Gumla and Khunti in just one year. Police officers posted in the operational areas of the two gangs estimate that at least three-fourths of the persons, killed in the gangwar, were either relatives or friends of the members of the two rival gangs. The shift in the war pattern of the gangs gained pace in 2007. The major headache is the fight between the CPI (Maoist) and PLFI and CPI (Maoist) and TSPC, informed SN Pradhan, police spokesperson of Jharkhand. "The figures at least substantiate that the war of supremacy between the three groups has resulted in maximum bloodshed in the State. However, we treat all the groups equally as their sole motto is collection of levy," Pradhan added. He said that police is trying its level best to arrest the rebels so that such bloodshed comes to a halt. Police sources claimed that police sometimes does reap benefits from such clashes. "If we get

information about confrontation between any of such groups we let it go on. As at the end of the day whoever gets killed would be a red rebel," the source said. (Pioneer, 08/06/2011) Maoists kill 10 cops in Dantewada RAIPUR, 10 JUNE: At least 10 securitymen were killed in a powerful landmine blast triggered by Maoists around midnight on Thursday in Chhattisgarh's restive Bastar region, police said. The blast was triggered in a forested area near Katekalyan in Dantewada district, more than 400 km south of state capital Raipur. “It was a massive blast, Maoists, mainly women among them, blew up an anti-landmine vehicle around midnight when policemen were moving in two vehicles on a search operation based on specific Intelligence input," Mr Ram Niwas, additional director general of police (Maoist operation), told The Statesman. He said that the blast tossed the anti-landmine vehicle up in the air before it was hurled down to be smashed. The deceased included seven special police officers (SPOs) and three state police personnel. Four policemen sustained multiple injuries and were battling for life at a government hospital at Jagdalpur town, headquarters of Bastar region. It was the second deadly attack in the state by Maoists on Thursday after they had gunned down five state policemen in Narayanpur district's Bastar region earlier in the day. Policemen who rushed to the site early today from nearby Dantewada and Katekalyanpolice stations said that the impact of the blast had formed a crater at a culvert where one of the two anti-landmine vehicles had been hit. A seriously injured constable, Lachhu, who was inside the ill-fated vehicle told local news channels at a hospital at Jagdalpur: “It was just like thunder… one of the two anti-landmine vehicles was thrown in the air. After the blast, Maoists started firing from all directions and probably looted weapons of the deceased jawans.” The two deadly attacks in 24 hours in the mineral-rich, sprawling forested interiors of Bastar region have shaken up state’s police force which has been suffering one deadly blast after another and gun battles with the Maoists since 2005 when a government-backed civil militia movement, Salwa Judum, was launched in Bastar which comprises five districts ~ Narayanpur, Kanker, Bastar, Bijapur and Dantewada. The state’s main Opposition, the Congress, has sharpened its attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government today for the “continuous killing of policemen and Intelligence breakdown”. Congress state general-secretary Mr Ramesh Varlyani said in a statement: “The BJP government has lost control in at least 10 of state’s total 18 districts where Maoists are ruling the roost.” (Statesman, 10/06/2011) 8 abducted brick kiln labourers released LOHARDAGA: Armed activists of the Jharkhand Sangharsh Jan Mukti Morcha (JSJMM), an extremist group, attacked a brick kiln at Badaki Chanpi village under Kuru police station on Wednesday midnight and abducted eight labourers. When they could not find brick kiln owner Manoj Sahu, they abducted eight labourers from there at gun point. They took the labourers to Mahadeo Manda forest, about 4 km from the kiln, and beat them up with lathis. Kuru police headed by S K Tiwari got the labourers released in a combing operation launched on Thursday. "The JSJMM activists released the labourers under police pressure and escaped," said Tiwari. He said the commander of the group, Laudha Ganjhu, with about 10 of his armed men, had attacked the kiln after he failed to get the levy from Sahu. A case has been lodged against Laudha and his group with the police station. Six of the labourers beaten by Naxalites were admitted to Kuru hospital while two were treated in the village. This is the third Naxalite incident of abduction and beating of villagers in the last eight days. All the Naxalite groups, including JSJMM, TPC and Maoists, are increasing their activities in the Badaki Chanpi area after the police picket was closed in the village. Kuru police station in-charge Tiwari has accepted that Naxalite activities have increased in the absence of the picket that he too wants to be restored. (TOI, 10/06/2011) 'Maoist' graveyard found in Jharkhand RANCHI: Jharkhand police have stumbled upon a graveyard of Maoists in a forest on the border of Ranchi-Khunti districts during an operation and exhumed 14 mutilated bodies. The bodies were sent for

forensic tests. The graveyard was found two days ago on a hill at Marangburu-Mamile during a joint operation by the CRPF and the state police. ''The graveyard's location suggests bodies of Maoists were buried there. In May, a Maoist camp was busted barely half-a-kilometre away,'' said ASP Apoorva, who led the raids. Police suspect several members of a squad led by Maoist south Chhotanagpur zonal committee commander Kundan Pahan were killed in the encounter and were buried by the rebels. For the last couple of months, Pahan's squad has been moving in the forest. ''It is likely those killed in the encounter were from this squad,'' said Apoorva. Intelligence inputs suggested they were bodies of Maoists. ''No villagers will go 15 km on the hilly range to bury bodies that too in such large numbers. The presence of a Maoist camp near the graveyard and marks on each grave suggest these bodies of rebels,'' said DGP G S Rath. (TOI, 13/06/2011) Maoist leader's wife killed, baby dumped in well DALTONGANJ: Unidentified killers have thrown the 18-month-old daughter of a Maoist leader in a 15ft-deep dead well alive shortly after strangling her mother dead and threw the body into the pit at Dhangaon under Lesliganj police station. The body of 25-year-old Sarita, the wife of a sub-zonal commander of the Maoist Satyender Paswan, was recovered on Monday night. It had decomposed suggesting that the woman was killed at least 24 hours ago, police said. Paswan is wanted in 25 cases of kidnapping and murder. "The child packed in a bag remained alive for nearly 24 hours in the well where her mother's body was found in another sack. Her feeble cry drew the attention of the villagers before she was rescued by police," said Daltonganj SP Anoop T Mathew. Mathew said the child was brought to an orthopaedic surgeon who treated a minor fracture on her leg. "The expenses were borne by police to save the child," he said. Sarita was apparently strangled to death as her neck bore the marks of strangulation, said Mathew. Police recovered about Rs 600 and a cellphone with the body but it remained a mystery as to how and why her baby was thrown alive in the same well. Police are investigating the motive behind the murder of the rebel's wife and dumping of the child. (TOI, 22/06/2011) Four Maoists sentenced to death for Chilkari massac re Four Maoists were sentenced to death by a court here on Thursday for the 2007 Chilkari massacre of 20 villagers, including the former Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi's son. Additional District and Sessions Judge (First) I.D. Mishra ordered that Chhatrapati Mandal, Manoj Rajwar, Jiten Marandi and Anil Ram be hanged till death for perpetrating the crime on October 26, 2007. On Wednesday, the court acquitted Hafiz Ahmed, Tutlal Yadav, Kishan Rajwar, Ram Sahay Das, Sitaram Turi and Mangru Kisku for want of evidence. Mr. Marandi's son Anup was among the villagers gunned down while they were watching a cultural programme at Chilkhari in Giridih district. Mr. Marandi's brother escaped the attack. While 19 people had died instantaneously, a woman died the next day. Apart from the death sentence under 302 of the Indian Penal Code, the court awarded them 22 years of prison terms under varying sections. They include two years of imprisonment under Section 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), one year under Section 342 (wrongfully confining any person), two years under Section 379 (theft) and three years under 120b (criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death, imprisonment). They were also awarded a jail term for seven years under Sections 307/149 (attempt to murder/unlawful assembly) and seven years under the Arms Act. (Hindu, 24/06/2011) Five policemen killed in Chhattisgarh Maoist attack s Five security personnel, including two Border Security Force (BSF) troopers, were killed Sunday in two separate attacks by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's restive Bastar region, police said. The two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed Sunday in a gun battle with Maoists at Koilibera area in Kanker district, some 250 km south of Rapiur, when a search squad of the BSF came under heavy police firing. The BSF claimed to have killed a few Maoists as well but recovered just one body. "Maoists carried out a flash attack on a squad of the BSF and the troopers retaliated strongly but we lost one head constable and one

constable. Four troopers were injured too," a BSF official told IANS. The injured troopers were rushed to a government hospital. Three state policemen were killed in another incident in Dantewada district when a police vehicle ran over on a landmine planted by Maoists. "At least three District Force jawans were killed and four others injured when a powerful landmine blast hit a vehicle carrying a squad the Kirandul area," Dantewada police chief Ankit Gardg told IANS over phone. Efforts were on to take them to a government hospital at Jagdalpur, headquarters of Bastar region, he added. Chhattisgarh’s sprawling 40,000 square km Bastar region, comprising five districts, has been a Maoist hotbed since the late 1980s. (Deccan Herald, 27/06/2011) Naxals warn Tatas of economic blockade Automobile giant Tata Motors, currently fighting a legal battle in the Calcutta High Court against the West Bengal government over the unilateral acquisition of land at Singur, has suddenly woken up to a macabre threat by naxals. The naxalites have warned if the Tatas fail to withdraw the High Court case over Singur within a week, it should prepare itself to face an economic blockade of its steel plant in the neighbouring Jamshedpur. “If the Tatas persist in turning the Singur farmers economically disabled through their means of exploitation and terror, we’ll be forced to consider slapping an indefinite economic blockade of Tata Jamshedpur plant and other factories in the neighbourhood and elsewhere in the country,” said Vikram, a spokesman of the CPI(Maoists) Bengal Chapter, on Saturday. Tata Motors moved the Calcutta High Court last week,challenging the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, triggering a legal war with the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal. The Tatas moved the court of Justice Soumitra Pal against the Act after the Bengal government put up notices at the gate of the abandoned factory in Singur taking possession of the land. All the 54 vendors of the aborted Nano car project of Tata Motors also moved the court against the Hooghly district magistrate’s notification. Tata Motors also demanded a status quo on the distribution of land from the state’s Advocate General who told Justice Soumitra Pal that he would communicate the views of the state on Monday. (Deccan Herald, 27/06/2011) Maoists reject Prez peace appeal, announce protest week Rejecting President Pratibha Patil’s call for peace talks, Maoists have announced a ‘protest week’ from July 4 in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra and on the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB), demanding immediate scrapping of the Army training school being set up in the foothills of Abujmarh in tribal Bastar. In two separate statements issued late last night, Communist Party of India (Maoist) central committee spokesman Abhay said the President’s call to Maoists to come forward for peace talks came at a time when a battalion-strong Army have already been sent in with the intention to involve them in the so-called operation green hunt. Such a proposal for talks comes when governments and corporates have entered into memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to exploit vast mineral wealth in the region and security forces are unleashing terror and committing atrocities on the poor in tribal areas,” he alleged, adding that Maoist leader Azad ― who had initiated a process for peace talks with the government ― was killed in a fake encounter. Maoists appealed to the people to impress upon the President to call off ongoing operations and withdraw the paramilitary forces from the tribal areas. They also want the Army training centre scrapped, as well as all MOUs and the land acquisition process. “If the governments accept these demands, Maoists will stop the counter violence,” the CPI (Maoist) spokesman said. Abhay said the CPI (Maoist) would intensify the mass struggle against the presence of the Army in Maad region in Narayanpur district, Chhattisgarh as the area was home to ancient tribal communities. Both government and Army have maintained their presence in Bastar was only for the purpose of training and not to run anti-Naxalite operations. (IE, 27/06/2011) Bodies of martyred Chhattisgarh cops ferried in gar bage truck The coffins of three Chhattisgarh policemen killed in a Maoist landmine blast Sunday night in Dantewada were transported in a municipality garbage collection vehicle for the guard of honour ceremony, the state's police chief admitted Tuesday. "No ambulance was available at the time... it was the only

municipality vehicle available," Director General of Police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan told IANS. He said the mini-truck was washed and cleaned before the coffins were placed on it. The bodies of Laxman Bhagat, Aslan Ekka and Bhushan Mandwai were brought to district headquarters Dantewada town from the blast site in Kirandul, some 40 km away, Monday. The bodies were then dispatched to the policemen's respective native villages. Dantewada's Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg admitted that it was a municipality vehicle, but hesitated to elaborate. When asked whether it was a garbage vehicle, he said after a long silence: "I don't know what kind of vehicle it was, but it was a municipality vehicle." Dantewada-based journalist Vinod Singh said several ambulances are available in Kirandul and its nearby town Bacheli. The two towns, which have several hospitals, markets and residential colonies for employees of state-run mining company NMDC, are separated by a 10-km hilly road. "No one made any effort to bring an ambulance. A constable who was asked to dispatch the bodies for the guard of honour, phoned the Kirandul Nagar Palika to send a vehicle," Singh told IANS. The three policemen were killed just four km away from Kirandul police station, more than 420 km south of state capital Raipur. They were part of a seven-member police team which was travelling in a Bolero jeep that ran over a landmine planted by Maoists. Another policeman succumbed to injuries later. Chhattisgarh's sprawling 40,000 square km Bastar region, comprising five districts, has been a Maoist hotbed since the late 1980s. (Deccan Herald, 29/06/2011) Researcher studying Naxals goes missing A young researcher studying the Naxal movement in Bihar has gone missing with her guide from the State's Jamui district, police officials said. She hailed from Bangalore. Juhi Kumari, who is in her early twenties, is believed to have gone missing on Wednesday, along with her aide Pradip Dass, when on the way to the Jamui Railway Station to catch a train for Bangalore late on Wednesday, said Jamui Superintendent of Police Raj Narain Singh. According to the police, Juhi's mobile was giving a “switched off” message. Though contact was momentarily established at 9.34 p.m., there has been no trace since. Mr. Singh said Juhi, who had been researching in the extremist hotbed over the last year-and-a-half, usually resided at a harijan hamlet known as Mahulia Tar, which falls in the adjoining Nawada district. Ms. Juhi had visited the area around four to five times, living and mingling freely with the dalits in the hamlet for a period of 15-20 days at a stretch. She would travel with Dass on his bike to the Maoist-affected villages where she held meetings with civil society activists, NGO workers and local people in pursuit of of her research, especially in areas such as Garhi and Khaira, police sources said. The police are worried that Juhi may be used by the Naxals as a bargaining tool to get their leaders in Jamui jail released. Mr. Singh said the search was being intensified. (Hindu, 30/06/2011) Naxal cheerleaders should be 'left alone': govt stu dy A study sponsored by the Union Home Ministry has recommended that Naxal sympathisers should be "left alone" to the confinement of seminar halls rather than persecuting them. "Distinction needs to be made between Naxal activists and the cheerleaders, between incitement and advocacy and between criminal conspiracies and ideological sympathises. While the state can go all out against the Naxal overground activists, alleged persecution of the cheerleaders would provide no operational benefit. "It would only endorse the Naxal description of the state as an intolerant oppressor. As long as the cheerleaders are confining their activities to the limits of the seminar halls, they should be left alone," the study conducted under the aegis of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) said in its action plan for Left-wing extremism hit areas does studies on policing subjects under the command of the Home Ministry and this study was titled "Social, Economic and Political Dynamics in Extremist Affected Areas." The findings of the study, conducted in Naxal affected states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, have been submitted to top security establishment in the country including the Home Ministry and the National Security Advisor. "A sensible policy to target the Naxalite bandwagon needs to be evolved. In recent times, Naxalites have been described to benefit from support they have managed to

generate from key intellectuals in the society. While the state governments in the past have tried to muzzle the voices of these activities, such policies have not worked," the study said. (IE, 01/07/2011) Maoists kill six, abduct 12 in Bihar village BANGALWA (Munger): Maoists on Saturday shot dead six men after tying their hands with ropes and took away 12 villagers, including eight children, from Kareli, a tribal-dominated village in Bihar's Munger district. The children are below 15 years. Bihar DGP Neelmani said it was too early to say if the missing villagers were kidnapped by Maoists or were hiding in fear. The Naxalites in police uniform also fired a volley of bullets on Bangalwa panchayat mukhiya Sulo Devi's house. She, however, managed to escape with her family. Neelmani said the ultras wanted to kill Sulo Devi's husband Ashok Koda. But Koda was not there. Maoists had attempted to kill him earlier too. Villagers of Kareli, Bangalwa and adjoining areas said the Naxalites had targeted them for long, but had made several unsuccessful attempts. ''We have been on their hit list because we didn't allow our children to join their party. We didn't allow Maoists to hoist their flags on the panchayat bhavan on Independence Day and Republic Day,'' said Koda. Villagers had sought a police picket apprehending Maoist attack. But, the police did not provide any protection. ''We were only given assurances,'' he added.Villagers alleged the local police is Maoist sympathizer. The cops have launched a rescue operation. A BSF chopper has also been deployed to hunt the Maoists. On Sunday, CRPF's CoBRA commandos are expected to join the operation. (3/07/2011) Adopt uniform code to combat Maoists, West Bengal G ovt told The Centre has asked the West Bengal Government to adopt “uniform approach” in handling anti-Maoist operations. Home Minister P Chidambaram, who chaired a meeting with DGP’s of nine Maoist-affected States on Monday is understood to have specifically told the West Bengal Police chief to stop the Naxals escaping to the State from neighbouring regions. Sources said Chidambaram cautioned the West Bengal Police officials not to soft-pedal against Maoists and called for uniform approach with other States in countering the Maoists. The message from Chidambaram to West Bengal Police top brass came in the backdrop of reports that the West Bengal Government was opposing tough action against the Maoist leaders. The meeting analysed the escape of Maoists to West Bengal, when forces intensify operations in neighboring States due to the “friendliness in the political atmosphere.” In the meeting, which focused on future strategies in operations, the Centre asked the State to adopt the Andhra Pradesh model of forming own special force like Grey Hounds and offered financial support for the formation of such combat units. The Centre decided to allot Rs 2 crore each to 100 police stations in the worst-hit areas in the country for construction of new buildings, residential complex and to procure arms and communication equipment. Sources said that the meeting took a positive note on the anti-Naxal operations in Andhra, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The police top brass conclave decided to sought the expertise from National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) in the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The meet decided to allow the State police and paramilitary forces to hire helicopters and air-ambulances for the anti-Maoist operations. The Centre also agreed to provide more helicopters and agreed to reimburse these expenses, said sources. The DGPs of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and top brass of CRPF and BSF agreed to work in tandem in their operations against the ultras, particularly along the inter-State borders. (Pioneer, 05/07/2011) Salwa Judum: SC restrains govt from appointing trib als as SPOs The Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained Chhattisgarh government and the Centre from appointing tribals as Special Police Officers (SPOs) and arming them to counter Maoist. The apex court said appointing and arming of tribals as SPOs is unconstitutional. The court also ordered a CBI probe into violence and attack on Swami Agnivesh and his companions in Maoist-hit Chhattisgarh. A Bench of Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar had last heard the matter on May 4 when the state government justified the appointment of SPOs saying they have excelled in performing police duties.

Chhatisgarh government had said that in anti-Maoist operations SPOs are of immense help in their role as guide, translators, spotters and on certain occasions they have saved the lives of regular security personnel while preventing more than dozen Maoist attacks on relief camps and helped security forces in anti-Naxal operations. The court, however, was of the view that arming tribals would lead to a "dangerous" situation if they turned against the state. The court had also questioned the training programme of the SPOs. "You are playing with the so called SPOs. What will happen if they turn against the state. God save this country," the bench had said during the last hearing. The issue of SPOs has arisen during the hearing of a petition against existence of Salwa Judum (vigilante groups) in Naxal-hit regions of the state to fight Maoists. The petition was filed by sociologist Nandini Sundar, historian Ramachandra Guha, former bureaucrat E A S Sarma and others seeking a direction to the state government to refrain from allegedly supporting Salwa Judum. (IE, 05/07/2011) Salwa Judum is illegal, says SC In a blow to both the Chhattisgarh government and the Centre, the Supreme Court has declared as illegal and unconstitutional the deployment of tribal youths as Special Police Officers - either as 'Koya Commandos', Salwa Judum or any other force - in the fight against the Maoist insurgency and ordered their immediate disarming. The ruling - issued on Tuesday by Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice S.S. Nijjar on the writ petition filed by social anthropologist Prof. Nandini Sundar and others - strongly indicted the State for violating Constitutional principles in arming youth who had passed only fifth standard and conferring on them the powers of police. The Bench said “the State of Chhattisgarh shall forthwith make every effort to recall all firearms issued to any of the SPOs, whether current or former, along with any and all accoutrements and accessories issued to use such firearms. The word firearm as used shall include any and all forms of guns, rifles, launchers etc., of whatever calibre.” Writing the order, Justice Reddy directed the State of Chhattisgarh to immediately cease and desist from using SPOs in any manner or form in any activities, directly or indirectly, aimed at controlling, countering, mitigating or otherwise eliminating Maoist/Naxalite activities in the State of Chhattisgarh. The court directed the Centre and the State of Chhattisgarh to provide appropriate security forthwith, and undertake such measures “as are necessary, and within bounds of constitutional permissibility, to protect the lives of those who had been employed as SPOs previously, or who had been given any initial orders of selection or appointment, from any and all forces, including but not limited to Maoists/Naxalites.” The Bench made it clear that the State of Chhattisgarh should take all appropriate measures to prevent the operation of any group, including but not limited to Salwa Judum and Koya commandos, that in any manner or form seek to take law into private hands, act unconstitutionally or otherwise violate the human rights of any person. The Bench said “the measures to be taken by the State of Chhattisgarh shall include, but not be limited to, investigation of all previously inappropriately or incompletely investigated instances of alleged criminal activities of Salwa Judum, or those popularly known as Koya Commandos.” The Bench held that the policy of the State violated the rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of those being employed as SPOs in Chattisgarh and used in counter-insurgency measures against Maoists/Naxalites, as well as of citizens living in those areas. The Bench was of the view that effectiveness of the force "ought not to be, and cannot be, the sole yardstick to judge constitutional permissibility. Whether SPOs have been effective against Maoist/Naxalite activities in Chhattisgarh would seem to be a dubious, if not a debunked, proposition given the state of affairs in Chattisgarh. Even if we were to grant, for the sake of argument, that indeed the SPOs were effective against Maoists/Naxalites, the doubtful gains are accruing only by the incurrence of a massive loss of fealty to the Constitution, and damage to the social order." The Bench said "The primordial value is that it is the responsibility of every organ of the State to function within the four corners of constitutional responsibility. That is the ultimate rule of law.” It said “Indeed, we recognise that the State faces many serious problems on account of Maoist/Naxalite violence.Notwithstanding the fact that there may be social and economic circumstances, and certain policies followed by the State itself, leading to emergence of extremist violence, we cannot condone it.” The Judges said “The attempt

to overthrow the State itself and kill its agents, and perpetrate violence against innocent civilians, is destructive of an ordered life. The State necessarily has the obligation, moral and constitutional, to combat such extremism, and provide security to the people of the country.” (Hindu, 06/07/2011) Supreme Court order will hit anti-Maoist drive: Chh attisgarh officers Hours after the Supreme Court asked Chhattisgarh, one of India's states most affected by Maoist violence, to stop recruiting tribals as special police officers (SPOs), police officers in the state Tuesday said the ''stunning'' order will severely hit operations against the guerrillas. Chief Minister Raman Singh, meanwhile, said the state government would take a decision on SPOs issue after studying the verdict. "I am stunned by the court decision. The guys (SPOs) were extremely handy to dismantle the CPI-Maoist (Communist Party of India-Maoist) terror network because they are locals and are well aware of the jungle terrain, Maoists’ war game, and had solid inputs of Maoist hideouts," a police officer posted in Dantewada district told IANS. Another officer said on condition of anonymity: "SPOs had inside knowledge as some had served as low-ranked Maoist cadres, while several were victims of guerrilla violence. The court decision will surely impact the police in fighting Maoists." Slamming the Chhattisgarh government for using tribals as SPOs in its Salwa Judum counter-insurgency operation against the Maoists, the apex court Tuesday directed the state government to "cease and desist" from the practice and asked it to recover all the firearms and ammunition given to the SPOs. It also directed the central government to ensure that its finances are not used for funding SPOs. "We will take view of legal experts and study the verdict before taking any decision," Raman Singh remarked when media persons sought his reactions to the apex court ruling which is termed a major setback to the state in its fight against Maoists. Chhattisgarh has roughly 4,500 SPOs, some of them even minors. The maximum number of SPOs are deployed in Dantewada and Bijapur districts that have witnessed a string of deadly attacks by Maoists since Salwa Judum, which means 'peace march' in the tribals' Gondi language, was launched in June 2005. Congress leader Mahendra Karma was credited for launch of the movement, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) joining in support later. However, some police officers also said that the Salwa Judum movement is not as active as it was in the past, and the order will thus have a limited impact. However, rights activists have welcomed the apex court ruling, saying that the state government had armed "non-state actors with AK-47s to kill its own citizens". Rajendra K. Sail, a prominent People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) leader in Chhattisgarh, told IANS: "Their (SPO) appointments were not as per the law. Arming civilians without accountability is wrong, they were armed with even AK-47s and were asked to target people on instruction of the authorities." Maoists, who control vast swathes of rural India along its eastern flank, claim to fight for the rights of poor peasants and landless labourers. Rebels virtually run a parallel administration in the forested rural belts in half of Chhattisgarh's 18 districts. The state has witnessed more than 2,200 casualties in Maoist violence since it came into existence in November 2000. (Deccan Herald, 06/07/2011) US alerts India on potential human bomb in flights WASHINGTON: The United States has alerted international carriers, including those from India, flying directly into its territory, that terrorist groups might surgically implant bomb into human beings to carry out attacks. "This is new intelligence about a possible technique that could be used, however, there is nothing to indicate an imminent threat," a senior US security official said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to discuss intelligence information with the media. The heightened communications and activities by the US, it is learnt, are in response to a potential threat, but there is no specific information about an imminent threat coming from a particular area. "Such a threat is likely to come from overseas rather than domestically, but precautionary steps are being taken internationally and in the US," the official said. It is understood that all countries, including, India with airports that have last-point-of-departure flights to the US have been alerted with the latest intelligence input gathered by the United States; which continues to be the prime target of the terrorists across the world, especially those based in

Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport have flights having last-point-of-departure to the US, it is logical that tightened security might be experienced by passengers at these two Indian airports as a result of the latest terror alert. (TOI, 07/07/2011) SC order a double blow for Chhattisgarh govt RAIPUR: As state officials here work out the implications of the Supreme Court order, there is a consensus that it has come as a double blow to Chhattisgarh Police. It has taken away 4,000 fighters from its counterinsurgency ranks, and saddled it with the additional responsibility of protecting them. The order says that the only duties that SPOs can be used for are "limited to those enumerated in Section 23 (h) and Section 23 (i) of Chhattisgarh Police Act 2007". Under Section 23 (h), the duty of an officer is "to help people in situations arising out of natural or man-made disasters, and to assist other agencies in relief measures", and under Section 23 (i), "to facilitate orderly movement of people and vehicles, and to control and regulate traffic". "How will we explain to these illiterate young men that they have to turn in their weapons overnight, and walk out unarmed? After all, they are marked men. They will be gunned down," a senior police officer says. Anticipating the threat to the lives of the adivasi men, the Supreme Court has asked the government to "provide appropriate security" to the SPOs, also known locally as Koya Commandos, derived from Koya, the name of a tribe. "The SPOs will stay in the camps, we will protect them," the police officer said. "We have 10,000 men of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force in Bastar, apart from the district police. The counterinsurgency operations would continue." But officers on the ground were not so optimistic. "It is a major setback," said one SP. "The Maoists will gain in a big way. The police camps will become more vulnerable." (TOI, 07/07/2011) Maoists kill constable, home guard in Koraput Maoists on Thursday morning shot dead a police constable and a home guard near Ankadeli in Koraput district of Orissa on Thursday morning. This incident comes on the heels of another group of Naxalites killing two persons, branding them police informers, near Kanjamandi village in Rayagada district in the State. According to Koraput Superintendent of Police Anup Sahu, constable Bala Takri and home guard G. Binod were riding a bike back from the Ankadeli weeklyhaat(market) to their Machhkund police station, when they were stopped and shot from close range. Both were in plainclothes. Earlier in Rayagada district, Sashi Majhi of Dhobasil village and Kailash Majhi of Gudibali village were dragged out of their houses by around 50 armed Maoists around midnight on Tuesday night. They were taken near Kanjamandi and shot dead. Bodies hacked Eyewitnesses said the bodies were also hacked with axes. According to police sources, Kailash was the husband of the Gudibali panchayat sarpanch. The Kasipur-Niyamgiri Area Committee of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), in letters and posters left the spot, claimed that these persons had been acting as police informers. The posters also demanded that anti-Maoist operations be stopped, and wanted the State and Central governments as well as Vedanta Alumina Limited to drop their plans to mine the Niyamgiri hills. (Hindu, 08/07/2011) 'Maoists regrouping in West Bengal' With joint-security operations virtually at a standstill in West Bengal, Maoists have started regrouping and recruiting cadres in the eastern state, intelligence inputs point. The inputs received by the Home Ministry from three West Bengal districts - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia - have suggested that the Naxals have been able to lure a sizable number of youths and recruit them for armed training. The recruitment drive and activities of the Maoists have intensified after Mamata Banerjee took charge as the chief minister since her government favoured talks with the ultras and virtually suspended all operations against them. Besides, the three West Bengal districts have become meeting and shelter points for Naxals operating in neighbouring Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar, they said. There have been reports that 'village defence squads' were being formed by Naxal supporters in many villages and extortion notices

reportedly served to many businessmen and CPI(M) sympathisers. Central security agencies were also worried over the Trinamool Congress government's proposal to release 46 'political prisoners' - most of whom were Maoists sympathisers - as it would give more ammunition to the Naxals to regroup and revive snapped contacts, they said. (AA, 10/07/2011) Army gets power to fire at Naxals In what may boost the government’s strategy to counter Naxals, the Centre has given the Army legal rights to fire back at the rebels in self defence. The Army wanted clarification on the “rules of engagement” against the Naxals as it is setting up two big training facilities in Chhattishgarh, one of which is inside the Maoist territory. “The Army is not there to fight against Naxalism but, at the same time, the government gave them some standard operation procedure (SOP) for their self defence,” Defence Minister A K Antony said here on the sidelines of a seminar. The SOP, explained a defence ministry official, was nothing but giving the Army legal rights to open fire at the Maoists if fired upon. The new SOP was discussed at a meeting of the Army central command last week. The Army was allotted close to 100 acres at Abujhmad inside Bastar where a training facility would be set up under the central command. Moreover, the Army would take over Bilaspur airport for establishing a new set-up for special forces. The para-commando training facility at Nahan will be shifted to Chhattishgarh. The Indian Air Force, which ferries police and paramilitary personnel in the Naxal heartland, had obtained similar permissions after one of the IAF choppers came under Naxal firing during the last general election. Even though the Army is not used to fight the Maoists, its presence in Chhattishgarh would boost existing anti-Naxal operations, which received a body blow from the Supreme Court that asked the government to stop recruiting the local tribal as “special police officer” and arm them for fight against naxals. (Deccan Herald, 13/07/2011) Maoists stall road construction work in Jharkhand ( 12) Demotand (Jharkhand), July 16 : Maoists stalled construction work on National Highway NH-33 in Jharkhand, posing a problem to the locals who ply on that route regularly. On May 15, Maoists had attacked a camp of a road construction company and burnt about 30 vehicles. Around 200 armed Maoists, including women, surrounded the road construction company's camp and forced the workers to kneel down, before burning five Miller machines, eight Hiwas (used in road construction), eight tankers, one batching plant, and destroyed other equipments. The company was engaged in a multi-billion project of a four-lane construction on the National Highway between Hazaribagh and Ramgarh. One and a half months have passed, and there was no improvement in the situation. Oil continues to ooze out of the tankers after the Maoists attacked it and disrupted the traffic on the National Highway-33. "The work on NH-33 (National Highway) could have either been stalled either by the Maoists or due to any other reason, but that should not have happened. Development work should never stop. If this road was properly constructed, then we would take only two hours to reach Ranchi from Hazaribagh, instead of the three hours that we take now. And anyway, NH-33 is considered to be the lifeline of Jharkhand," said Anurag, a local. "NH-33 is the lifeline of Jharkhand. Recently a road construction camp was attacked due to which regular traffic has been disrupted on this road. Whatever be the reason for this obstruction-either because of the Maoists, police or politicians, the development work has come to a halt and this should not happen," said Pratik Kumar, another local. (New Kerala 17/7/11) Need 65,000 troops to fight Naxals: Army assessment (12) New Delhi: In its first detailed assessment of taking on the Naxal threat, the Army top brass has concluded it would need to deploy at least 60-65,000 troops to provide an effective counter. To this end, the Army Chief and the seven Army Commanders gave their stamp of approval earlier this month to a massive troop relocation plan in case they are ordered into combat. Giving the go-ahead for preparations at a meeting in the Lucknow-based Central Army Command, the Army top brass agreed that at least six Army divisions will be needed to cover Naxal-affected areas in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa,

parts of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Among the factors that prompted this meet was a Home Ministry proposal suggesting relocation of some Rashtriya Rifle units from Jammu & Kashmir to the Naxal-affected areas. The Army top brass felt that raising new Rashtriya Rifle battalions would be a better option than thinning out troops from J&K. The proposal in itself, sources said, was a clear indicator that the situation on the ground was becoming difficult to handle. (Indian Express 19/7/11) Naxals kill 4 Cong leaders (12) Raipur: At least four Congressmen were killed and many others injured in a daring Maoist attack on Wednesday evening at a convoy of senior party leaders, including Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief. The attack took place in the mineral-rich forested Durbhagudi in Udanti area under the Mainpur police station about 180 km from the State capital, Raipur. Senior police officials confirmed four deaths in the incident that was caused by a landmine blast and subsequent indiscriminate firing by the Leftwing extremists. “We have information about the death of four persons while five others were injured,” said Mukesh Gupta, Inspector General of Police, Raipur Range. This is the first major Maoist attack after the abrupt removal of Vishwaranjan as DGP and Supreme Court’s order to disarm SPOs, who were in the forefront of taking on the Red ultras. The incident took place when senior Congress leaders, including its State Congress president Nand Kumar Patel, former PCC chief Dhanendra Sahu, former Ministers Satyanarayan Sharma, Amitesh Shukla, MLA Kuldeep Juneja along with other party workers were returning after taking part in a farmers’ rally. While senior leaders escaped unhurt as the vehicle they were travelling crossed the bridge seconds before the Maoists blew it up. The vehicle in the tail-end of convoy with eight to 10 Congress leaders was caught in the blast, the police said. The Maoists are also reported to have opened fire after the blasts. A strong posse of over 100 securitymen, including CRPF, district police force and Chhattisgarh Armed Force were rushed to the spot, said Additional Director General of Police, anti-Maoist operations, Ram Niwas. “Security forces also conducted road opening in the area but being forested area, ultras succeeded in blasting the small bridge,” added the ADG. After the incident, all the senior Congress leaders were at the Mainpur police station as efforts were on to give them foolproof security cover. Soon after the incident, police officers were directed to ensure safe return of the Congress leaders. Patel alleged that despite a tip-off to the State Government, it did nothing to bolster security. This was second big incident in Griyaband in the last couple of months this year. On May 23, Maoists killed 10 securitymen, including an Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP). Notably, police sources said that the rebels have formed a stronghold along the Odisha border in the forests of Udanti and Sitanadi Tiger Reserve spread over an area of about 1,900 sq km in Raipur and Dhanatri districts. The said reserve besides being mineral-rich is renowned for its wild buffaloes, tigers, leopards, chitals, four-horned antelopes, chinkara, black bucks, sambars, nilgais, jungle cats, flying squirrels, jackals, cobras, pythons, etc. Given the increased Maoist activities in the area, the State Government, a couple of years back, had upgraded Gadiyaband to police district. (Pioneer 21/7/11) Maoists kill alleged police informer (12) Maoists killed a tribal, suspecting him to be a police informer, after abducting him from his house in Narayanpatna block of Koraput district on Friday night. According to the Koraput police, the body of Dilu Habika of Pilibadi village was found in a pool of blood near the village on Saturday morning. His hands had been tied and his throat slit. Maoists left a handwritten poster near the body accusing Habika of being a police informer. The killing comes ahead of the Martyrs' Week, which starts from July 28. It is suspected that the Maoists resorted to the act in retaliation to the seizure of explosive material from the Narayanpatna area by the security forces. It is the second murder of a tribal by Maoists in the block in recent months. A man, identified as Supura Sirika, was killed on June 25. (The Hindu 23/7/11) Maoists attack mobile towers in Jharkhand (12)

Palamu (Jharkhand), July 23 : Continuing their spiral of violence against democratic and social institutions of the country, the Maoists have been targeting mobile towers in an attempt to disrupt the cellular connectivity in Jharkhand's Palamu District. They have also been blowing school building by the use of explosives in the region. According to reports, the explosions triggered by the ultras are of such force that the towers as well as the machinery surrounding them collapse due to the impact. Criticizing the Maoist activities in the region, Director General of Police, Palamu District, Laxman Prasad, on Friday said that the police is doing its best to uproot the Maoists. "We are taking actions against the Maoists and hoping that they do not attack near the mobile towers. This is a war-like situation-they attack towers and even schools. They say children are not given proper education, so they destroy schools," he said. Prasad further said that locals suffer the most due to the destruction of the towers, as it disables them from talking to their relatives using mobile phones. "Though the police do not face problems due to the destroyed towers, as we use wireless technology, the locals are the main sufferers. The villagers used to talk to their children living abroad on mobile phones," he added. (New Kerala 24/7/11) Why no offence of kidnapping against Maoists? (12) NAGPUR: There had been no offences of kidnapping registered with Gadchiroli police against Maoists till June this year. This despite the fact that the trend has been such that Naxals mostly abduct their victims before killing them. While police register case of murder but for reasons best known to them, do not register kidnapping case. "Such act affects decision making at the top level. It also has a negative impact on formulating a strategy against the Maoists,' said a senior officer having experience in anti-Naxal operations. This year more than 30 tribals have been eliminated by the Naxals. In most of the cases, the Naxals followed a queer trend of kidnapping a group of villagers before murdering some and releasing others. Recently the Naxals abducted a couple from Bhamragarh, eliminated the man but released his wife. In Dhanora teshil too, the Naxals eliminated a sarparnch and two others after having kidnapped them from their respective villages. Earlier in Regdi too, the Naxals had abducted five people and killed two. Gadchiroli SP S Vireesh Prabhu said that he had sent his forces immediately after the information of the sarpanch's kidnapping was relayed to him but due to vast jungle terrain the operation could not yield successful result. A source said, "Many times out of fear the villagers don't report the matter of kidnapping to the police. But if the police know about the abduction, the they should register a case of kidnapping too. That will bolster the case." (Times of India 26/7/11) Tension in Bihar village after Maoists kill five (1 2) Patna, July 31, (IANS): Tension gripped a Bihar village Sunday, a day after five people were killed by Maoists, police said. Five people belonging to Khairwar tribe were killed by a group of armed Maoists at Banda village in Rohtas district late Saturday evening. "Security forces have been deployed at the village in view of the anger and tension," Rohtas Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj told IANS over phone. He said police was not taking any chance, fearing retaliation by people of the Khairwar tribe who have been opposing Maoists in the area. Police suspect that the Maoists killed tribals in apparent retaliation to the killing of their top leader and self-styled commander Brinder Rana Yadav early this month. (Deccan Herald 31/7/11) Maoists' greater focus on AOB zone sends cops in a tizzy (12) VISAKHAPATNAM/HYDERABAD: The Maoist martyrs' week, which would be ending on August 3, has not seen any violence. But the cops can ill-afford to breathe easy what with the Maoist leadership expanding the dreaded Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee's (DKSZC) role to Andhra-Orissa Border (AOB) zone now. If sources are to be believed, the Maoist central leadership brought a new division in AOB, which was formed a year ago, under the ambit of DKSZC. With the entry of Bonda Gupteswar or Bonda Ghati group, DKSZC has at present 10 divisions. The sources said Maoists are adopting new strategies and restructuring organisational ranks in AOB to gain an upper hand in their fight against

security forces. "Bonda Ghati was brought under DKSZC to strengthen military formations and seek area domination in AOB and the adjacent areas of Chhattisgarh border," they said. Bonda Ghati consists of primitive tribals of Bondas, who live in more than 20 villages near Matchkund project area of Vonukudelli. This is used as a strategic spot by the Maoists to cross the border of Dantewada district into Malkangiri district in Orissa. "Bonda Ghati division ensures a hassle-free journey for top Maoist leaders to cross over to Orissa from Chhattisgarh and vice versa," a senior IPS officer told TOI. The security forces are said to be worried over the new development. Already, top Maoist leader Gajarla Ashok alias Aitu's appointment in AOB is giving sleepless nights to the cops as he had masterminded several ambushes in Gadchiroli division of DKSZC and South Bastar. Former secretary of east division in AOB, Marpu Venkata Ramana alias Jagadeesh alias Lenju, who was severely injured in the Gunukurai encounter four years ago, is also reportedly actively taking part in Maoist activities along with Aitu. "Despite nursing a limping leg, Lenju is conducting meetings and inspiring tribal youths to join the Red army. He along with Aitu is planning to carry out attacks on government establishments," an expert in anti-insurgency operations in AOB said. The sources said the Chhattisgarh military command has also been bifurcated for greater co-ordination among the cadres. Modem Balakrishna alias Bhaskar, former AOB secretary and carrying a new name of Netaji, has been given the responsibilities of the north command, while the reins of the south command are entrusted to Ramanna, the South Bastar regional committee secretary. "Ramanna was the man behind many ambushes and attacks in the Bastar region, including the one at Chintalnar, the deadliest Maoist attack ever in which 73 CRPF jawans were killed on April 6 last year," the sources added. (Times of India 2/8/11) ‘Government must find a way for dialogue with Maois ts' (12) Welcoming the Supreme Court's recent judgment declaring the deployment of tribal youths as special police officers (SPOs) unconstitutional and illegal, activist Binayak Sen said it was important to consider the “new possibilities and options brought about by this judgment” while discussing the prospect of peace. He was speaking at a discussion “to welcome the Supreme Court judgment and discuss peace talks” here on Tuesday. Representatives of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) and several civil society activists and intellectuals who were part of the discussion, unanimously hailed the judgment as “historic” and emphasised engaging the Government in dialogue with the tribals. Referring to the Government's attitude towards Maoists as one of “deception” and “betrayal”, Communist Party of India secretary D. Raja said “the Government in a democracy cannot have such an attitude. It must find a way for open dialogue”. Describing the Government atrocities in Chhattisgarh, social activist Swami Agnivesh said the Maoists had in the past agreed to the dialogue process, but had been betrayed by the “duplicity” of the Government. “All of us will have to raise voice to know if this Government honestly wants to engage in dialogue [with the Maoists],” he said. Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi spoke about the atrocities faced by tribal people on a day-to-day basis, adding that peace would not be possible without bringing “Maoists into the mainstream of democracy”. He said there was an attempt to “saffronise the tribals” in Chhattisgarh. Questioned about the way forward by Dr. Sen, Mr. Jogi said the focus areas for restoring peace should be “the socio-economic front, political initiative, containing violence in tribal areas and throwing the communal saffron out of power”. Sociology professor and one of the petitioners in the case against the State of Chhattisgarh, Professor Nandini Sundar said the issue of violence in Chhattisgarh should be taken up by the Opposition for an effective solution. Agreeing with Mr. Jogi on the need for political initiative, she added that “an all-party representative” group should visit the State like the all-party delegation that visited Kashmir last year. Dr. Sen said the judgment should “make us look at new options in concrete, material terms… [not only for] Chhattisgarh, but a dozen other States”. Activist G. Haragopal pointed out that “civil society's concern was missing” with regard to tribals. “Civil society is the only hope. Dialogue is possible with this judgment in the backdrop…Delhi-based people have great responsibility, because what you say makes a difference. We need to ask the tribals what they want. Their rights need to be

protected,” he said. Several others spoke about the judgment, responsibility of the Central and State governments and dialogue as the “vital weapon” for the peace process to begin. (The Hindu 3/8/11) Intel shows split in Maoist rebel ranks (12) The Maoist insurgency is facing its biggest challenge — a “degeneration of ideology” and a “split” within its ranks. Killings by Naxals over the last three months show that the violence is no longer aimed only at the security forces but at civilians too, and that there are also caste battles. Intelligence reports submitted to the MHA indicate that the CPI (Maoist) has split on tribal and non-tribal lines in Bihar and Jharkhand and that their cadres are killing each other. The Maoists recently killed five people in Rohtas in retaliation to the recent killing of their zonal commander by a splinter group. Rallying behind states that are mustering “local support” to tackle the Naxals, the Centre is set to file a petition in the Supreme Court in the next 10 days asking it to review its judgment on disbanding Salwa Judum. (Asian Age 3/8/11) Naxals facing ‘split’ within their ranks (12) The Maoist insurgency is facing its biggest challenge — a “degeneration of ideology” and a “split” within its ranks. The killings by Naxals over the last three months show that the violence is no longer aimed only at security forces but at innocent civilians too, and that there are also caste battles. Intelligence reports submitted to the home ministry also indicate that the CPI (Maoist) has split on tribal and non-tribal lines in Bihar and Jharkhand and that their cadres are killing each other. The CPI (Maoist) recently killed five people in Bihar’s Rohtas district in apparent retaliation to the recent killing of their zonal commander by a splinter group of Naxalites. Rallying behind states that are mustering “local support” to tackle the Naxal menace, the Centre is set to file a petition in the Supreme Court in the next 10 days asking it to review its judgment on disbanding Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh. “The CPI (Maoist) are no longer targeting only security personnel. Earlier, the outfit used to express regret at the inadvertent killings of civilians through statements by its spokesperson. This has stopped,” a security official said. The change in the Maoists’ strategy and its “degeneration”, the official pointed out, can be gauged from the fact that more than 25 civilians, mostly children and tribals, have been killed by Maoists in Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand since May this year using “brutal” methods like breaking heads with stones, as well as in shootings and landmine blasts. A total of 999 incidents of Naxal violence have occurred up to July 26 this year, targeting 241 civilians and 92 security personnel. Observers within the government claim that Maoist sympathisers, who openly criticised the joint anti-Naxal operations, will find it difficult to explain the “use of torture and brute power against civilians” by the Maoists, “who have completely lost their so-called ideological moorings”. Intelligence reports given to the Union home ministry have noted that in states affected by left-wing extremism — such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the Maoists are striking up partnerships with local civil and forest contractors, mine-owners and petty businessmen. “They are no more class enemies but partners in looting the country’s resources,” an official said. (Asian Age 3/8/11) Naxals on rampage, govt concerned (12) New Delhi, August 06, 2011: Days after home minister P Chidambaram told Maharashtra to act against Maoists going berserk and killing civilians, there is a growing evidence that the wanton killings of civilians was not limited to Gadchiroli. As against 92 security personnel who lost their lives in anti-naxal operations this year, more than 240 civilians have been gunned down or hacked by Naxals in the first seven months this year. A large number of them were tribals, whose interests the Maoists claim to protect and promote. The latest in the string of killings was in south Bihar over the last week that saw the rebels killing relatives of tribals who had stepped out of line, looting and burning down their houses. According to information reaching Delhi, tribals in Bihar's Rohtas district had fled their houses after the Maoists unleashed a rein of terror. The apparent provocation of the fresh round of violence beginning this Sunday came as retaliation against the killing of a zonal level commander by disgruntled tribal cadres. Disillusioned at the way the

outfit was being run, more than a dozen tribals had later surrendered before the police along with their arms in south Bihar's Rohtas and UP's Sonebhadra districts over the last one month. This time, a group of armed Maoists raided the village on Sunday, hacked three relatives of Sugriv Kharwar, the former head of Piparditi village when they could not find him. They also looted the household goods and burnt down the house. Sugriv had motivated other tribal cadres linked to the Maoists to surrender their arms. The Maoists then went on a rampage and carried out a dozen attacks elsewhere in Rohtas district, targeting tribals they suspected to be defectors and their families. The violence comes in the backdrop of the Bihar police not acting adequately against Maoists. Maoists have killed 3 security personnel across the state by mid-July this year. In contrast, they have killed 24 tribals and villagers. (Hindustan Times 6/8/11) Maoists hunt for dissidents (12) New Delhi, Aug. 7: Merciless retribution has alarmingly become the most common word in the savage lexicon of Bihar Maoists who are pulling out all the stops to target “deserters” and everyone even remotely connected to them. The concern is both new and unnerving for the state government, which already has a conscience burdened with the brutal rebel killings of dozens of special police officers (SPOs) and police informers. Rohtas, Gaya and Jamui (bordering Jharkhand) districts in south Bihar are turning out to be the favourite hunting grounds of the guerrillas who are eliminating their “class enemies” like never before. This blood lust of the CPI(Maoist) was triggered by the murders of the outfit’s Jamui-Banka zonal leader and his associate by some “disgruntled” tribal cadres in Nagatoli, Rohtas. Around 13 tribal rebels also abandoned the outfit following the killing and was reportedly sheltered by Sugriv Kharwar, a former headman of Pipardih village, also in Rohtas. Kharwar even floated an organisation, the Kaimuranchal Jan Sena, for surrendered Maoist men. He paid the penalty within a month. Some 30 rebels, led by one Munna Vishwakarma, barged into the house of one of his relatives in Bonda village of Rohtas in the afternoon of July 30 and hacked three persons to death. By July 22, the Bihar police reportedly had intelligence inputs from central agencies about Vishwakarma and his men on the move near the village, but the attack was not prevented. On August 1, a police informer, Lakho Yadav, who played a key role in the arrest of some top-ranking rebels in the area, was also slaughtered by Maoists when he went to his native village in Rohtas. Another villager who only accompanied him was also murdered. There are several other districts — Banka, Lakhisarai, Bhagalpur and Munger to name a few — that fall under the Jamui-Banka zone of the CPI(Maoist). After the Nagatoli incident, Maoists have killed three and wounded several others in over a dozen reprisals, where houses have been ransacked and gutted. The savage hunt by Maoists is not restricted to Bihar alone. At Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, Maoists have killed a couple of mentally deranged men, accusing them of being police informers. The heads of victims were bludgeoned with stones, suggesting the degree of hatred. In Chhattisgarh, after a July 5 Supreme Court verdict disarmed SPOs, the Maoists have spoken in twin tones. On the one hand, they are threatening SPOs with dire consequences, on the other hand, they made announcements asking SPOs to embrace Naxalism. “These are incidents that should cause concern because Maoists are on a killing spree. Look at Gadchiroli or the fate of SPOs. There is systematic targeting,” said an officer. A section of security officers attribute this phenomenon to the alleged split among Maoist cadres on class and caste lines, especially in Jharkhand and Bihar. Sources said there were examples of OBC leaders, powerful in the CPI(Maoist) hierarchy, killing their tribal fellowmen. (Telegraph 8/8/11) Maoists strike in Orissa on I-Day (12) Bhubaneswar, Aug 15, DHNS: A gun battle between the security forces and armed Maoists took place on Monday in Khaprakhol area of Orissa killing two Maoists while other parts of the state was busy celebrating Independence-Day. The exchange of fire took place when the jawans of the elite Special Operation Group (SOG) of Orissa police were conducting a combing operation in the area on Monday morning after Maoists killed a local leader of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) late on Sunday night. Police claimed to have killed two Naxalites in the gun battle which continued for hours. However, their dead

bodies were yet to be recovered. On Sunday night a group of nearly 60 armed Maoists dragged a local BJD leader Rajkishore Panda from his residence in Telenpali village under Khaprakhol block and shot him dead. Meanwhile, in Naxal infested Koraput district in south Orissa, vehicular traffic between Narayanpatna and Laxmipur came to a grinding halt as Maoists blocked the highway by putting land mines in order to disrupt the traffic. The Naxal operating in the state observed the day as a “black day”. Keeping in mind the threats from Naxals, the security system was tighten to foil any attacks from them. Security measures had been beefed up in all parts of the state particularly in the capital and naxal infested districts where the national tricolour was unfurled by chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his cabinet colleagues respectively. Naxals open fire on CRPF camp I-Day celebrations were marred in Jharkhand as Maoists on Monday fired on a CRPF camp, triggering an encounter at Rania in Khunti district. According to Rania police station in-charge Raj Kapoor, the rebels opened fire soon after the flag hoisting ceremony at the CRPF camp. The security personnel also retaliated, police said. (Deccan Herald 15/8/11) Governor asks Maoists to join mainstream (12) Dumka, Aug 15: Jharkhand Governor MOH Farooq today asked the Naxals to shun violence and join the mainstream. Speaking after hoisting the national flag on the ocassion of the country's 65th Independence Day at the sub-capital Dumka said maintaining law and order, Naxalism and development are the main challenges before the state. ''The security persons have been asked to seriously deal with the Maoist menance,'' Mr Farooq said, adding that modern weapons and warfare training is being provided to them. ''In democracy, there is no place for violence and to ensure that our state prospers it is important that the Maoists join the mainstream,'' he said. In his speech, the Governor also lauded the efforts being made by the state government in the fields of education, health, irrigation and power. He said after completion of the Deoghar-Dumka railway line project, during the current fiscal, work would commenece on the Godda-Hasdiha railway line at a cost of Rs 144 crore. Mr Farooq said 'Dumka Shahri Jalaapurti Yojana' which has seen an investment of Rs 54.71 crore, will commence functioning from December. On the ocassion, the Governor also gave away prizes to meritorious students. (New Kerala 16/8/11) Youth injured in Naxal blast on I-day (12) NAGPUR: An 18-year-old youth was injured in a blast on the outskirts of Bedgaon village, around 2km away from Murumgaon Armed Out Post (AOP) in Gadchiroli district on Independence Day. Soon after the early morning blast, security forces recovered another explosive device from the spot. Police said Vishnu Dhanla was heading for his morning ablutions when the explosion took place after he touched a pamphlet, which was a booby trap set by Naxals. The pressure bomb went off and injured Dhanla, who was rushed to Gadchiroli Civic Hospital. Senior officers like Superintendent of police S Vireesh Prabhu met the injured civilian to find out more about the blast. Prabhu said the man was in hospital with burn injuries on his hand and chest. "He was not able to speak at length and may be able to reveal more information in better health later," said Prabhu. A team was able to recover another improvised explosive device planted a couple of meters away from where the blast took place. "There could have been more mishaps, but prompt police action averted them," Prabhu said. Meanwhile, security forces had a tough time removing the black flags unfurled by Naxals, as per their traditional practice of protest on I-Day, at various places. According to a source in the district, the rebels usually put up black flags on government premises, especially gram panchayats and ashramshalas, as a show of their strength and challenge to the police department. Prabhu said police had to remove a black flag from the premises of a gram panchayat at Korchi. The cops hoisted the Indian Tri-colour in its place. "Police were sent to all places where Naxals had tried to hoist a black flag," he said. Refuting a report that Naxals managed to put up black flags at more than 25 places in the district, Prabhu said, "We believe Naxals managed to hoist black flags at some interior places but not these many." Sources in Aheri also said Naxals had managed to hoist a black flag at an ashramshala at Kasansoor near Etapalli. (Times of India 17/8/11)

Naxals free ‘kidnapped’ revenue officials (12) VISAKHAPATNAM: Three officials of Visakha Agency were allegedly abducted and later released by Maoists at Balapam village in Chintapalli mandal on Wednesday evening. Sources said the cadre belonging to the Korukonda area committee, which masterminded former Malkangiri district collector Vineel Krishna's kidnap, was behind the abduction of the officials, including Paderu revenue divisional officer K R P Prasada Rao. After holding them captive for over two hours, they released the officials. The police department and the revenue authorities were on tenterhooks when the officials did not reach their destinations till 8pm. Prasada Rao finally put an end to the hostage drama by claiming that they were safe and that he had reached Paderu in the night. "The Maoists discussed several tribal issues with the officials," sources said. (Times of India 18/8/11) We have disbanded SPOs: Chhattisgarh to SC (12) New Delhi, August 21, 2011: The Chhattisgarh government has informed the Supreme Court that it has disbanded and disarmed the tribals who were deployed as special police officers (SPOs) in anti-Naxal operations in the state and assured that all of them would be incorporated in the police force. In an affidavit, the Raman Singh government said it has fully complied with the verdict of the apex court in which it had directed to disband the SPOs. "The state has promulgated 'The Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Police Force Ordinance' which was notified on July 28, 2011. In terms of the aforesaid ordinance, every person serving as SPO on the date of this ordinance shall, for a period of six months from the date of this ordinance, be deemed to be a member of Auxiliary Armed Police Force," the affidavit said. The affidavit, filed by advocate Atul Jha, said that arms and ammunition issued to the SPOs have been recalled and they have not been used in any anti-Naxal operation after the apex court's verdict. "It is submitted that SPOs have not been deployed in any of the operations against the Maoists ever since the order. Arms and ammunition issued to the SPOs have been recalled. All further deployment and duties of the members of Auxiliary Armed Police Force shall hereafter be in strict compliance with the provisions of the ordinance," it said. Coming down heavily on the Chhattisgarh government for involving vigilante group Salwa Judum in fighting Maoists, the Supreme Court had restrained it and the Centre from arming SPOs, calling the 5,000-strong force as "unconstitutional". Asking the state and the Centre to desist from appointing tribals as SPOs and arming them for countering Naxals in any manner directly or indirectly, the court had said the appointment of tribal youths as SPOs was "unconstitutional". The court had passed the order on a petition filed by sociologist Nandini Sundar, historian Ramachandra Guha, former bureaucrat EAS Sarma and others. (Hindustan Times 21/8/11) Anti-Naxal operation enters 3rd week (12) ROURKELA: Security forces of Orissa and Jharkhand continued their ‘area domination operation’ for the 18th day on Sunday at the hostile Saranda operational hub of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) outfit along the Orissa-Jharkhand border. The security exercise is being seen as the largest of all the exercises conducted so far in the Saranda forest. It is learnt that the forces have gunned down a hardcore Maoist during an encounter near Baliva area and seized explosives from some dismantled camps. Jharkhand’s Chaibasa-based DIG Naveen Singh said an unidentified Maoist was killed on Saturday morning during exchange of fire. He added police had destroyed a few camps and recovered huge amount of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). In a separate incident, security personnel picked up eight persons for questioning from Nuagaon and Raidihi areas, close to Sundargarh border in Orissa. Rourkela SP Himanshu Lal declined to speak on the outcome of the operation, but said it was imperative to question persons moving suspiciously. Meanwhile, amid mounting pressure the Maoists are seemingly on the run even as many security men are suffering from malaria. Sources said around 31 security personnel afflicted with malaria have been airlifted for treatment. Police asserted the operation would continue till the ‘liberated zone’ of the Maoists is completely sanitised. (NIE 22/8/11)

Naxal commander Ranita went down bravely, security forces fought gracefully (12) NAGPUR: The Saturday's battle at Makadchuha, around 38 km from Gadchiroli, may be between banned outfit championing a cause of armed revolt and government forces but it remained replete with instances of supreme sacrifices on either side. If the bravado of three police personnel earned them the glory of martyrs, the single-handed fight of the Naxal woman commander of Chatgaon dalam Raneeta Hichami, alias Ramco with her .303 rifle against a band of commandos laced with sophisticated arms also calls for high respect in the scale of an individual's action for a selfless cause. If the bravado of three police personnel earned them the glory of martyrs, the single-handed fight of the Naxal woman commander of Chatgaon dalam Raneeta Hichami, alias Ramco with her .303 rifle against a band of commandos laced with sophisticated arms also calls for high respect in the scale of an individual's action for a selfless cause. (Times of India 23/8/11) We have disbanded SPOs: Chhattisgarh to SC (12) New Delhi, August 21, 2011: The Chhattisgarh government has informed the Supreme Court that it has disbanded and disarmed the tribals who were deployed as special police officers (SPOs) in anti-Naxal operations in the state and assured that all of them would be incorporated in the police force. In an affidavit, the Raman Singh government said it has fully complied with the verdict of the apex court in which it had directed to disband the SPOs. "The state has promulgated 'The Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Police Force Ordinance' which was notified on July 28, 2011. In terms of the aforesaid ordinance, every person serving as SPO on the date of this ordinance shall, for a period of six months from the date of this ordinance, be deemed to be a member of Auxiliary Armed Police Force," the affidavit said. The affidavit, filed by advocate Atul Jha, said that arms and ammunition issued to the SPOs have been recalled and they have not been used in any anti-Naxal operation after the apex court's verdict. "It is submitted that SPOs have not been deployed in any of the operations against the Maoists ever since the order. Arms and ammunition issued to the SPOs have been recalled. All further deployment and duties of the members of Auxiliary Armed Police Force shall hereafter be in strict compliance with the provisions of the ordinance," it said. Coming down heavily on the Chhattisgarh government for involving vigilante group Salwa Judum in fighting Maoists, the Supreme Court had restrained it and the Centre from arming SPOs, calling the 5,000-strong force as "unconstitutional". Asking the state and the Centre to desist from appointing tribals as SPOs and arming them for countering Naxals in any manner directly or indirectly, the court had said the appointment of tribal youths as SPOs was "unconstitutional". The court had passed the order on a petition filed by sociologist Nandini Sundar, historian Ramachandra Guha, former bureaucrat EAS Sarma and others. (Hindustan Times 21/8/11) Anti-Naxal operation enters 3rd week (12) ROURKELA: Security forces of Orissa and Jharkhand continued their ‘area domination operation’ for the 18th day on Sunday at the hostile Saranda operational hub of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) outfit along the Orissa-Jharkhand border. The security exercise is being seen as the largest of all the exercises conducted so far in the Saranda forest. It is learnt that the forces have gunned down a hardcore Maoist during an encounter near Baliva area and seized explosives from some dismantled camps. Jharkhand’s Chaibasa-based DIG Naveen Singh said an unidentified Maoist was killed on Saturday morning during exchange of fire. He added police had destroyed a few camps and recovered huge amount of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). In a separate incident, security personnel picked up eight persons for questioning from Nuagaon and Raidihi areas, close to Sundargarh border in Orissa. Rourkela SP Himanshu Lal declined to speak on the outcome of the operation, but said it was imperative to question persons moving suspiciously. Meanwhile, amid mounting pressure the Maoists are seemingly on the run even as many security men are suffering from malaria. Sources said around 31 security personnel

afflicted with malaria have been airlifted for treatment. Police asserted the operation would continue till the ‘liberated zone’ of the Maoists is completely sanitised. (NIE 22/8/11) Naxal commander Ranita went down bravely, security forces fought gracefully (12) NAGPUR: The Saturday's battle at Makadchuha, around 38 km from Gadchiroli, may be between banned outfit championing a cause of armed revolt and government forces but it remained replete with instances of supreme sacrifices on either side. If the bravado of three police personnel earned them the glory of martyrs, the single-handed fight of the Naxal woman commander of Chatgaon dalam Raneeta Hichami, alias Ramco with her .303 rifle against a band of commandos laced with sophisticated arms also calls for high respect in the scale of an individual's action for a selfless cause. If the bravado of three police personnel earned them the glory of martyrs, the single-handed fight of the Naxal woman commander of Chatgaon dalam Raneeta Hichami, alias Ramco with her .303 rifle against a band of commandos laced with sophisticated arms also calls for high respect in the scale of an individual's action for a selfless cause. (Times of India 23/8/11) Maoists turn up heat on TMC (12) KOLKATA: Mutual trust between the Mamata Banerjee government and the People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) is fading fast, putting a question mark on the apparent peace prevailing in the region. Maoists have threatened a counter attack against the Trinamool if the government does not stop police operation and 'shadow fight' against the tribals with the help of armed Tinamool gangs, just like the CPM. Following the high pitched warning of the 'mentor' Maoists, their mass outfit PCPA also raised their voice a few steps up, announcing a 24-hour strike in Jangalmahal on August 24 (first Maoist or PCPA strike after the new government came to power), to protest Trinamool-sponsored terror tactics in Jangalmahal. PCPA activists burnt effigies of chief minister Mamata Banerjee in different parts of the forest land on Monday. PCPA leader Chhatradhar Mahato has also started a hunger strike at Midnapore jail, demanding unconditional release of political prisoners and withdrawal of security forces. On Monday morning, the bullet-ridden body of Tapan Deshwal, a 26-year-old CPM worker of Tongveda village, was found lying on the road. Maoist posters were also found in which the rebel outfit claimed that Tapan was a "police agent" and was punished for "spying". This is the second murder in Jangalmahal since the formation of the new government. "Pistols and automatic rifles were used to kill Tapan. It's a Maoist handiwork," said Jhargram SP Gaurav Sharma. The rebel outfit CPI(Maoist) has alleged in a written statement that the Trinamool-led government was following in predecessor CPM's footsteps. "Soon after Mamata Banerjee's Jangalmahal tour, Trinamool leaders formed armed teams like the CPM to squash the tribal movement. They have formed the Jana Jagaran Mancha to gag the people's voice at gun-point. They are threatening and beating up the members and supporters of PCPA and the Democratic Forum against Corruption, imperialist aggression and terror (DFCIAT) that except Trinamool, none will be allowed to form any other organization," alleged PCPA spokesperson Joydeb Mahato. Maoist spokesperson in West Midnapore, Baha Tudu, also endorsed the allegation in their letter. "Trinamool is now turning into green harmads," said Tudu. The Maoist outfit has also questioned the honesty of the Mamata Banerjee government about Jangalmahal. "Do they really want to solve the Jangalmahal problem? The government did not consider releasing Chhatradhar Mahato and even opposed his plea to grant him political prisoner status," pointed out Tudu. The Maoist leader also condemned the role of the government-appointed interlocutors. "They met Chhatradhar and told him that he has to resign from PCPA before he is released. Mahato was also asked to announce that he would not participate in any movement. They openly threatened Mahato that if he didn't accept the proposal, his wife Niyoti would also be put behind bars," alleged the Maoist leader. "Mamata Banerjee is trying to bring us to the talks table by pointing a gun at our head," said Mahato, ruling out any chance of talks in this situation. Senior police officers also admitted that the situation was turning volatile and Maoists are gaining more strength as no political bloc is present in this land to resist the Maoist expansion. (Times of India 23/8/11)

Maoist surrenders in Orissa (12) Bhubaneswar, Sep 3 : A Maoist area commander surrendered in Orissa Saturday, taking the total number of guerrillas who surrendered in the state this week to eight, police said. Laxmidhar Nayak, who joined the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in 2006, was active on the Orissa-Chhattisgarh border. He has been named in several criminal cases, including those of murder, rioting, arson and extortion. He surrendered before the police at the district headquarters town of Nabrangpur, about 560 km from here, a senior district police officer told IANS. The rebel told the police that he was motivated by family members to shun violence and lead a peaceful life. Five rebels surrendered in the steel city of Rourkela Friday and two female Maoists, including a minor, surrendered in the district headquarters town of Koraput Aug 30. Maoists are active in half of Orissa's 30 districts. (New Kerala 3/9/11) CPI demands withdrawal of anti-Naxal armed force ac t in Chhattisgarh (12) New Delhi: The CPI today demanded withdrawal of a new law aimed at establishing the ‘Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Force’, saying it was meant to legalise an illegal army called Salwa Judum. The Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Force Act by the state Legislature is to “legalise an illegal army”, the party’s Central Secretariat said, demanding the Centre to “advise the state government not to implement such gross undemocratic legislation”. Calling the Act as “an undemocratic move to undo the Supreme Court judgement to abolish the Salwa Judum”, it said the private army would again be brought into existence and legalised. “It is shocking to note that the Act came into force with retrospective effect from July 5 this year, the day the Supreme Court pronounced the judgement against the Salwa Judum. It increased the allowance by 100 per cent to Rs. 7,000 a month, to all members of Salwa Judum,” the CPI said. Instead of respecting the judgement of the Supreme Court, the BJP government decided to negate it by legislating a new Act “to legalise an illegal army. It is a shame on the part of BJP government to violate the spirit of the judgement”, the CPI added. (The Hindu 10/9/11) 2 held for channelling funds from Essar to Maoists, claim Chhattisgarh Police (12) New Delhi: The Chhattisgarh Police have arrested two men suspected of channelling Rs.15 lakh from the Essar industrial group to the guerrilla army of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). A spokesperson for Essar has denied the allegations, as has the sister of one of the arrested men. “B.K. Lala was arrested yesterday at the Palnar weekly market with Rs.15 lakh in cash,” said Dantewada Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg over the phone, “On interrogation he said the money was from the Essar group and intended for the Maoists.” Mr. Garg said the money was withdrawn from Mr. Lala's State Bank of India account in Kirandul. The police are yet to ascertain the precise source of the money; yet sources said that Mr. Lala worked as a contractor for Essar, carrying out odd jobs and renting excavation equipment to the company. The arrest comes a fortnight after the WikiLeaks website released a secret US embassy cable titled “Anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh begin”, quoting an unnamed “senior representative” of the Essar group of industries as saying that Essar paid the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) “a significant amount not to harm or interfere with their [Essar's] operations; when the Maoists occasionally break this agreement and damage Essar property or threaten personnel, Essar sets different Maoist groups against each other to suppress the situation.” An Essar spokesperson has denied these claims, as have representatives of the CPI (Maoist). “Essar is a law-abiding corporate. We don't think it is appropriate or necessary to react to such allegations,” said an Essar spokesperson. The police have also arrested a man called Lingaram Kodopi who, the police claim, was collecting the money on behalf of the Maoists. “Kodopi's sister, Soni Sori was also present at the spot, but escaped,” said Mr. Garg, “All three were apprehended red-handed.” In a phone call made to this correspondent, Soni Sori has denied the police's allegations. “Linga and I know nothing about this contractor called Lala,” she said, “We have never met him, and we have no connection with the Maoists.” Ms. Soni said her brother was arrested when a large group of policemen, dressed in civilian garb, entered their house in Palnar and arrested Lingaram. “They refused to tell us why they were arresting him, and tried to take me along as

well, but I refused to go along,” Ms. Soni said. Ms. Soni is currently in hiding as she fears for life. “The police have issued public statements claiming I was collecting Rs.15 lakh for the Maoists. This is completely false. I am very scared as the Maoists might kill me, thinking that I am extorting money in their name,” she added. In July last year, the Dantewada Police had issued a press release alleging that Mr. Kodopi was in fact a senior Maoist commander who had received weapons training in Delhi and Gujarat. The claim was withdrawn after Mr. Kodopi held a tearful press conference on July 12, 2010, in Delhi, pointing out that he was first picked up by the Chhattisgarh Police in September 2009 and illegally detained for 40 days. Mr. Kodopi was finally released when his family filed a habeas corpus at the Chhattisgarh High Court at Bilaspur. Last year, Mr. Kodopi was studying in a private journalism institute in Noida. In April that year, he had appeared before the Indian People's Tribunal in Delhi and served as a translator for several young tribal women who said they were victims of police atrocities. Family members say he returned to Chhattisgarh in 2011. Essar's operations in the troubled Dantewada district have attracted persistent speculations of a possible deal between the company and the banned CPI (Maoist). The company operates an 8 million tonne per annum plant in Bailadila where iron dust sourced from the National Mineral Development Corporation's mines is converted into slurry and dispatched to Visakhapatnam via a 267-km pipeline that cuts through Maoist-controlled lands. While Maoists occasionally damage pipeline, it is currently operational and it is unclear how the company managed to lay the pipeline in the first instance. (The Hindu 11/9/11) 2 held for channelling funds from Essar to Maoists, say Chhattisgarh cops (12) New Delhi: The Chhattisgarh Police have arrested two men suspected of channelling Rs.15 lakh from the Essar industrial group to the guerrilla army of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). A spokesperson for Essar has denied the allegations, as has the sister of one of the arrested men. “B.K. Lala was arrested yesterday at the Palnar weekly market with Rs.15 lakh in cash,” said Dantewada Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg over the phone, “On interrogation he said the money was from the Essar group and intended for the Maoists.” Mr. Garg said the money was withdrawn from Mr. Lala's State Bank of India account in Kirandul. The police are yet to ascertain the precise source of the money; yet sources said that Mr. Lala worked as a contractor for Essar, carrying out odd jobs and renting excavation equipment to the company. The arrest comes a fortnight after the WikiLeaks website released a secret US embassy cable titled “Anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh begin”, quoting an unnamed “senior representative” of the Essar group of industries as saying that Essar paid the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) “a significant amount not to harm or interfere with their [Essar's] operations; when the Maoists occasionally break this agreement and damage Essar property or threaten personnel, Essar sets different Maoist groups against each other to suppress the situation.” An Essar spokesperson has denied these claims, as have representatives of the CPI (Maoist). “Essar is a law-abiding corporate. We don't think it is appropriate or necessary to react to such allegations,” said an Essar spokesperson. The police have also arrested a man called Lingaram Kodopi who, the police claim, was collecting the money on behalf of the Maoists. “Kodopi's sister, Soni Sori was also present at the spot, but escaped,” said Mr. Garg, “All three were apprehended red-handed.” In a phone call made to this correspondent, Soni Sori has denied the police's allegations. “Linga and I know nothing about this contractor called Lala,” she said, “We have never met him, and we have no connection with the Maoists.” Ms. Soni said her brother was arrested when a large group of policemen, dressed in civilian garb, entered their house in Palnar and arrested Lingaram. “They refused to tell us why they were arresting him, and tried to take me along as well, but I refused to go along,” Ms. Soni said. Ms. Soni is currently in hiding as she fears for life. “The police have issued public statements claiming I was collecting Rs.15 lakh for the Maoists. This is completely false. I am very scared as the Maoists might kill me, thinking that I am extorting money in their name,” she added. In July last year, the Dantewada Police had issued a press release alleging that Mr. Kodopi was in fact a senior Maoist commander who had received weapons training in Delhi and Gujarat. The claim was withdrawn after Mr. Kodopi held a tearful press conference on July 12, 2010, in Delhi,

pointing out that he was first picked up by the Chhattisgarh Police in September 2009 and illegally detained for 40 days. Mr. Kodopi was finally released when his family filed a habeas corpus at the Chhattisgarh High Court at Bilaspur. Last year, Mr. Kodopi was studying in a private journalism institute in Noida. In April that year, he had appeared before the Indian People's Tribunal in Delhi and served as a translator for several young tribal women who said they were victims of police atrocities. Family members say he returned to Chhattisgarh in 2011. Essar's operations in the troubled Dantewada district have attracted persistent speculations of a possible deal between the company and the banned CPI (Maoist). The company operates an 8 million tonne per annum plant in Bailadila where iron dust sourced from the National Mineral Development Corporation's mines is converted into slurry and dispatched to Visakhapatnam via a 267-km pipeline that cuts through Maoist-controlled lands. While Maoists occasionally damage the pipeline, it is currently operational and it is unclear how the company managed to lay the pipeline in the first instance. In a meeting last year, Maoist leader Ganesh Uieke told this correspondent that the pipeline was laid at a time when the guerrillas were not sufficiently active in the region. Mr. Uieke had pointed to the Maoists' successful opposition to a proposed Essar Steel plant, in Dantewada's Dhurli and Bhansi villages, as proof that the guerrillas were actively fighting against mining companies. Yet a former Maoist commander, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this correspondent that the guerrillas collect yearly payments to allow companies to operate in Dantewada. “We need the money to finance our operations,” he said, “but we can't collect from the poor villagers for whom we are fighting our battle.” (The Hindu 11/9/11) CPI opposes review of court order on Salwa Judum (1 2) BANGALORE, September 12, 2011: Communist Party of India (CPI) national secretary D. Raja on Sunday came down heavily on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for supporting the Chhattisgarh government in forming the vigilante group, Salwa Judum, for tackling the Naxalite movement. He termed such a force a threat to democratic politics. Addressing journalists here, Mr. Raja criticised the Centre for filing a review petition in the Supreme Court, seeking a review of its order declaring the appointment of tribal youths as Special Police Officers/Salwa Judum by the Chhattisgarh government to counter Maoist violence as illegal and unconstitutional. “We do not agree with the UPA government, particularly with Home Minister P. Chidambaram,” he said. The government should not encourage such a force; Left wing extremism had to be fought politically and ideologically. The UPA government should rework its strategy in countering Naxalism, he said. Mr. Raja, who, in a letter to the Prime Minister, had opposed appointment of the Salwa Judum, said the State government was unleashing power against tribal people by appointing the force. “The strategy is totally defective.” Even as the Supreme Court declared the force “illegal,” Mr. Raja said that in its review petition the Central government described the Salwa Judum as “a movement started by the local people as a revolt against excesses and torture by the Naxalites.” Noting that corruption could not be eliminated by constituting of a Lokpal alone, he suggested that a comprehensive package of measures, including electoral reforms and constitution of a national judicial commission for appointment of judges, was needed to wipe out corruption. The CPI was in favour of a strong Lokpal and inclusion of Prime Minister within the Lokpal's ambit. “However, Anna Hazare's movement for electoral reforms and recalling of MPs seem to be impractical now.” Referring to black money stashed away in Swiss banks, Mr. Raja said the Centre should seek a list of persons who kept money abroad. The U.S. and European governments had obtained the list from the Swiss government officials. “The UPA government should also seek the list and bring back the black money belonging to the country and the people.” The CPI leader said both BJP and the Congress had been thoroughly exposed on the corruption issue. National BJP leaders had “closed their eyes” with regard to illegal mining and corruption in BJP-ruled States. The central leaders of the BJP allowed illegal mining in Karnataka and a large extent of illegal mining could have been prevented if action was taken earlier against the former Minister, G. Janardhana Reddy. Asked about the proposed Communal Violence Bill, Mr. Raja said “we need the Bill but it should not go against the spirit of federalism.” The Bill was in the

public domain for sometime now and the law should not infringe on the rights of the State governments, he said. The CPI leader also demanded that the UPA government undertake mid-term review of its economic policies in view of the declining farm production, slowdown in the manufacturing sector, rising prices of essential commodities and increasing unemployment. The CPI leader opposed foreign direct investment in insurance, retail and other government sectors on the PPP model. (The Hindu 12/9/11) Maoist-hit areas should share India's growth, says Manmohan Singh (12) NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said people in Maoist- affected areas should have equitable share in the prosperity brought about by India's growing economy even as the rural development ministry sought his help for additional funds for road connectivity in these areas. In his valedictory address at the "National Workshop on Appropriate Development Strategies for Effective Implementation of Rural Development Schemes in IAP ( integrated action plan) districts', the prime minister said that lack of development often leads to a sense of alienation among the inhabitants of left-wing extremist areas. "If the sense of alienation is to be converted into a sense of belongingness, our programmes and policies must ensure that the people of these areas have equitable share in the prosperity that a rapidly growing economy like ours is bound to bring in," he said. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh read out key conclusions at the end of the day-long meeting attended by collectors from 60 districts across the country. Seeking the prime minister's intervention, he said connecting almost all habitations in 60 IAP districts under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) would require an additional Rs.35,000 crore over the next three years. Ramesh later told media persons that the prime minister had decided to discuss the issue with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P. Chidambaram. He said 500 people will be enrolled as "Bharat Nirman Volunteers" in each IAP district by March 2012. The volunteers will act as a link between the administration and people. The ministry, he said, proposes to launch the Prime Minister's rural development fellows programme under which young professionals in 25-30 years age group will be recruited to work in IAP districts for a period of 2-3 years and will support the collector in the field. Chidambaram, who spoke in the inaugural session, said Left-wing extremism was the most "formidable challenge" to governance and added that real hurdle was not restoring peace or development but winning the minds and hearts of villagers. He said more people had been killed in Maoist violence this year than in incidents of terrorism. (Times of India 13/9/11) Naxal fight: Rural ministry puts ball in states’ co urt (12) New Delhi: A report by the rural development ministry has noted that state governments' reluctance to delegate powers to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) has given a boost to left-wing extremism. This comes a day before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses collectors of 60-odd Naxal-affected districts for preparing a common strategy for countering extremists. “The one framework that could have been used is that of the local self-government as contained in the 73rd Amendment Act. However, most states have been dragging their feet on a faithful empowerment of the PRIs and the devolution of functions, functionaries and finances to them,” a paper on the Development Strategies for Effective Implementation of Rural Development Schemes in Naxal-affected districts has noted. As per the paper, the non-empowerment of PRIs and strengthening of the gram sabhas have deprived the states of the most efficacious instrument to counter the Naxal movement. The paper also identifies lack of inclusive growth in these Naxal-hit districts to be key reason behind expansion of Naxalism. “The economic growth is largely remained confined to the capital-intensive urban-based industrial sector and the informal sector. Whatever growth has taken place in the rural areas has been largely concentrated in the established and upcoming elites,” the paper stated. For countering the spread of Naxalism, the rural development ministry has proposed to construct cemented concrete road under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The rural development ministry's proposal for concrete road under PMSY is likely to get a

green signal at the meet scheduled to be held on Tuesday. Besides Manmohan Singh, home minister P Chidambaram,rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will attend the meet where a special financial package for the Naxal-hit districts will be announced. (The Financial Express 13/9/11) Maoists climb down on talks conditions (12) KOLKATA: The Maoists appear to have made a climbdown from their stand of getting political prisoners freed as a condition for talks with the Mamata Banerjee government. Bandimukti Committee convener Chhoton Das, who is also one of the interlocutors appointed by the chief minister to mediate with the Maoists in Jangalmahal, said in Kolkata on Tuesday that the guerrillas are now insisting on two conditions: the operations by the joint forces must stop and the private armed groups which have mushroomed in Jangalmahal in recent months must be disarmed. "Maoists know that if talks progress, the release of prisoners would follow automatically," Das said. Earlier, however, the Maoists had demanded release of prisoners before the talks begin. About 10 members of CPI (Maoist) are behind the bars across the state, said Das. Sixty-six tribals are also languishing in different jails for alleged Maoist links - 36 of them in Midnapore jail, 21 in Bankura and nine in Purulia. (Times of India 14/9/11) More infrastructure plans for Naxal areas (12) New Delhi, Sep 17, DHNS: Union rural development ministry has proposed an additional amount of Rs 35,000 crore in the next three years for building infrastructure in Naxal infested regions under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP). The government is planning to add 18 more districts to the list of 60 Maoist influenced districts already under the IAP. The plan gives a grant of Rs 25 to 30 crore to each districts and provides three professionals attached to each collector to see proper implementation of development schemes. The young professionals with IT, business or management background are to be employed at a salary of Rs 5000 to Rs 6000 each. The Centre will fund the scheme through the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology, which assists more than 12,000 voluntary organisations in implementing development activities across the country. Lack of banking or post office facilities in these extremely backward tribal regions have impeded implementation of various development plans, sources said. PM Manmohan Singh this week suggested that police stations in Naxal hit areas could be used for opening banks and post offices. The IAP would focus on the construction of roads in the villages which could later become arteries for further development. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh is understood to have sought the Prime Minister’s intervention for implementation of Pradhan Mantir Gramin Sadak Yojayana (PMGSY) in the Maoist affected districts. (Deccan Herald 17/9/11) Villagers attack search party in Chhattisgarh (12) Rajnandgaon, September 18, 2011: A mob of around 300 villagers allegedly attacked a police search party and tried to snatch their weapons at Ghotia village in the Naxal-hit district, police said on Saturday. Four villagers and some of the police personnel were injured in the incident that occurred late on Friday night, a senior police official said. The police team of 26, led by Additional Superintendent of Police (Naxal operations) Y. P. Singh, was attacked by the mob at Ghotia Main Road when it was returning after carrying out a search in the area, Rajnandgaon SP Badrinarayan Meena told reporters. The villagers also tried to snatch the weapons of the search team, he said. Some policemen were injured in the attack, Mr. Meena said, adding the personnel used force in self-defence in which four villagers sustained injuries. Meanwhile, Ghotia villagers alleged that police were targeting them for Naxal activities. – PTI (The Hindu 18/9/11) Naxalism cannot be tackled with guns: Binayak Sen ( 12) Pune | Agency: DNA: Human rights activist, Binayak Sen, on Saturday claimed Naxalism cannot be tackled with guns. He was speaking to media persons at a function organised by the Pune Union of

Working Journalists (PUWJ). Slamming the government’s Salwa Judum initiative of arming tribal youth to police the forest areas, Sen claimed it amounted to tribals fighting tribals. Naxalism had to be solved in a non-violent manner. He accused the government of conducting fake encounters in which tribal youth were killed and labelled as Naxals. Sen alleged that the Salwa Judum movement was being revived in Chhattisgarh. He said, “The Supreme Court had ordered scrapping of the Salwa Judum campaign in Bastar. However, the Chhattisgarh government has now proposed setting up of new camps in Narayanpur area by clearing the forest. The motive is to provide education and health care to people in these camps. However, the government is planning to displace a large number of tribals. This could see another Salwa Judum taking birth.” Earlier in the morning, Sen spoke to media persons at the Azam campus after delivering a talk on ‘People’s struggle for social justice and democratic rights’. He slammed the law on sedition. Sen, who had been jailed for two years on the grounds of sedition, said a campaign to collect one million signatures was being undertaken by the People Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) to repeal the law on sedition. Sen said, “The sedition law has become a tool in the hands of the government to silence any voice of dissent. This is a serious threat to our democracy. We are demanding its scrapping through our signature campaign. We hope to present a memorandum signed by one million people before the start of the Parliament’s winter session.” (DNA 18/9/11) Suspend violence and come for talks, Chidambaram te lls Maoists (12) Kolkata, Sept. 21: The Union Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Wednesday said the Centre was open to talks with Maoists provided they “suspend violence.” In terms of violence, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) posed a greater security concern than terrorism, he said. “We are not asking Naxalites to surrender, lay down arms or disband PLA. Neither are we asking them to give up their ideologies. We are just asking them to suspend violence and come for talks,” Mr Chidambaram said. He was speaking at an interactive session organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce here today. According to the Minister, ten times more lives are lost in LWE attacks than in terrorism. The two planks to deal with the problem of extremism are development (of affected areas) and law and order, he said. Referring to development work, Mr. Chidambaram said that a sum of approximately Rs. 3,300 crore has been allotted to carry out such work in 60 LWE affected districts across the country. Around 62,000 projects have been taken up in LWE areas with 80 per cent of such work being completed by December this year. The remaining 20 per cent will be completed by February 2012, he said. “Wherever development can take place, it should take place with the help of security forces. Where it is not possible, security forces should go and regain control of the region,” he said. According to Mr. Chidambaram, the country faces multiple internal security challenges with infiltration in Jammu & Kashmir, Naxalism in central India, insurgency in Northeast and threat of terror. Emphasising on the need to tackle threats arising out of terrorism, Mr. Chidambaram said that the country's vulnerability to terror attacks rose because of its “proximity to the epicentre.” The Centre, he said, is building capacities to tackle these challenges. Recruitment of police personnel and IPS officers apart; it would also put in place a “security structure” that includes intelligence, investigation and counter- terrorism. (Business Line 21/9/11) Didi changes tack, turns anti-Maoist (12) SINGUR: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sent out a stern warning to Maoists saying they can't remain janus-faced and continue their killing spree while complaining about the state's human rights violations and police excesses. "The initiative for talks can't go together with killings. You (Maoist) have to decide the future course. Who has given you the right to kill? Those who complain against police excesses as violation of human rights should clarify whether their ghastly killings conform to human rights," said Banerjee, whose rise to power started with the campaign against the land acquisition in Singur, a cause Naxals also backed. Her warning on Monday that she wouldn't tolerate any Naxal killings came at a public meeting in Singur. This was a deviation from Mamata's stance before she came to power in Bengal. But on Monday she called the Maoists cowards, echoing then CM Buddhadeb

Bhattacharjee remarks in 2008 when he had said, "Maoists hide in forests and hills in Jharkhand. They kill police personnel, our party men in Bengal and go back to the jungles." (Times of India 27/9/11) Chhattisgarh Police search human rights activist's residence in Jaipur (12) AIPUR, October 4, 2011: Chhattisgarh Police raided the residence of Jaipur-based human rights activist Kavita Srivastava early on Monday morning in search of a fugitive woman Moist from that State. Ms. Srivastava, general secretary of PUCL Rajasthan, was not present in the house on Kisan Marg in Shanti Niketan Colony when men in uniform and plain clothes came looking for one Sumit Sodi. The police team, comprising commandos from Chhattisgarh and personnel of Special Task Force of Rajasthan, created a commotion outside the joint family's residence as they swept in. The raid took place between 6-30 and 7 a.m. “This is an outrage. We are angry, to say the least. It is scandalous and an attempt at intimidation,” said Kavita Srivastava, who talked to the media in the afternoon in the presence of social activists, members of the Rajasthan University Women's Association and representatives of Left parties. The activists and legal experts termed the “raid” and the modalities taken by the police “illegal”. “The police came with a truckload of STF personnel. They said they were on the lookout for a ‘khatarnak' [dangerous] Naxalite. My family members were shocked by the severity of the assault. My father is 82 and on a pacemaker,” said Ms. Srivastava. Her residence is a well-known address which activists and people with grievances from villages visit almost daily. Ms. Srivastava felt that her visits to Chhattisgarh in connection with the arrest of activist Binayak Sen in February this year must have put her on the police radar. “I know no Maoist. We are public outreach workers. I am a human rights defendant,” she said. According to her, she had enough reason to believe that the raid had “tacit support” of the State Government. “I am being targeted by the Congress government here. The reason could be the recent initiatives by the PUCL in exposing the role of the administration and the police in the killings of innocent Muslims in Gopalgarh.” “The warrant did not have a name but our residence address. The Chhattisgarh Police were accompanied by personnel from the Bajaj Nagar station where they know my address. I talked to City Police Commissioner B.L. Soni on the mobile when informed of the raid. He told me that he had sent the DSP of our area, Rajendra Singh Shekhawat. That was no help as he [Mr. Shekhawat] himself was found to be leading the team,” Ms. Srivastava said. The police also went to the PUCL office in the locality. Ms. Kavita's elder sister — they are six sisters — on her way to Delhi by car was stopped a few metres from the house. She and her European friend were detained on the road for almost an hour. “The Chhattisgarh party was led by one Mr. Memon who was in plain clothes. We do not know his rank. He carried the papers from a court saying that my house has to be searched,” Ms. Srivastava said. “I demanded to see the search warrant. They did not show it initially but some 15-20 men forced themselves into the house,” said Komal, another sister of Ms. Kavita who was at home then. “The men opened drawers, bureaus and intimidated our maids who are from Cooch Behar [West Bengal],” she said, adding, “We don't know what all the police took away from our place. They did not show us what they carried before leaving the place.” “This was a well-planned operation carried out with the connivance of Rajasthan Police,” charged PUCL Rajasthan president Prem Krishna Sharma. “This is an attempt to turn Rajasthan into a Chhattisgarh.” (The Hindu 4/10/11) Suspected Maoist conduit arrested in Delhi (12) New Delhi, Oct 4, (IANS): A suspected Maoist conduit, accused of receiving ''protection money'' from the Essar group on behalf of the rebels, was Tuesday arrested in south Delhi by Chhattisgarh Police, police said. The woman's arrest triggered condemnation from activists who termed it ''illegal''. Soni Sori, a tribal teacher from Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh, was arrested from Katwaria Sarai area. Soni, who is in her 30s, was later brought before a court which sent her to judicial custody for a day. Human right activist and People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) general secretary, Kavita Shrivastava, however, condemned the arrest saying the cases against Sori are fabricated. "The cases framed against her are fabricated and her arrest is illegal. She is being falsely implicated and it's a complete violation of human

rights," said Shrivastava whose house in Jaipur was raided by Chhattisgarh Police Monday in pursuit of Sori. Shrivastava, who broke down in a press conference here, charged the government of "silencing the dissent in the country". "The raid at my house was an act of collusion between Rajasthan and Chattisgarh governments which want to silence their critics. They searched my house with a warrant in which no IPC section was mentioned," she added. Chhattisgarh Police, in July, filed a case against Sori for allegedly collecting Rs.15 lakh from a contractor of the Essar group. Following the registration of the case, police picked up her nephew Lingaram Kodopi in Chhattisgarh accusing him of being a Maoist sympathiser. He alleged that police had implicated him. In 2010, Chhattisgarh Police booked Sori in a case related to an attack on Congress leader Avdesh Gautam's house. There are five different cases registered against Sori in Chhattisgarh under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, police said. Sori, who left her studies in a medical college for a government job at Sameli village as warden of a residential school for girls, later went into hiding. An Essar group general manager D.V.C.S. Verma was arrested Sep 27 from Raipur for his alleged role in paying "protection money" to the Maoists to help the company reopen a 267-km iron ore slurry supply pipeline in Dantewada district. His arrest followed questioning of Essar contractor B.K. Lala, who was caught while handing over Rs.15 lakh.(Deccan Herald 4/10/11) Maoists ready for conditional ceasefire for a month (12) KOLKATA, October 5, 2011: The interlocutors appointed by the West Bengal government to bring Maoists to the negotiating table claimed on Tuesday that the left-wing extremists were willing to refrain from the use of arms for a month on the condition that the State government too suspended all forms of anti-Maoist operations in the Jangalmahal region for the same period. In a joint statement, which was signed by secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)'s State Committee Asim Ghosh alias Akash and two key State-appointed interlocutors — rights activists Sujato Bhadra and Chhoton Das — the Maoists demanded the restoration of peace in the Jangalmahal region and said that for an atmosphere conducive to dialogue, both parties must keep their promises. The statement was reportedly prepared and signed subsequent to a meeting held on September 30 at an undisclosed location within the State. “If the State government can assure suspension of security operations for one month and keeps to the promise in totality, we, too, promise to desist from the use of arms for a month and obey it in its entirety,” it said. The agreement comes in the wake of the tough stand taken by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against the Maoists and their “politics of violence” after rebels had killed three persons in the space of a month. Ms. Banerjee had asked the Maoists to choose between talks and killings, saying the “two cannot go together”. Apart from the suspension of anti-Maoist operations, the Maoists have also demanded that the government take immediate action against the various armed groups allegedly functioning in the region. (The Hindu 5/10/11) Rs 120 cr to fortify police stations in Naxal areas (12) New Delhi, Oct. 6: The Centre has sanctioned Rs 120 crore to fortify 400 police stations located in Naxal-affected areas across eight states. Official sources said the first instalment of Rs 30 lakh to each of the 400 police stations has been sanctioned for construction of new buildings, residential complex, bunkers and to procure arms and communication equipment. Earlier, the Home Ministry had decided to fortify the 400 police stations located in 83 Naxal-hit districts at a cost of Rs 2 crore each. Out of this amount, the Centre will provide Rs 1.60 crore while the remaining Rs 40 lakh would be given by the State Governments. “Rs 30 lakh is the first instalment. We will release the remaining amount phase-wise,” a source said. This project is part of the Home Ministry's continuous effort to provide assistance in terms of extending logistics and deploying paramilitary forces to the states to fight Maoists. The Central Government has shouldered its share of responsibility in dealing with the Maoists and has deployed 71 battalions (around 71,000 personnel) of paramilitary forces. The Budget allocation under Security Related Expenditure scheme has been increased to Rs 337 crore in 2011-12 against only Rs 80 crore in 2008-09. Likewise, the Budget allocation under Special Infrastructure Scheme has been increased to Rs 140 crore

in 2011-12 against only Rs 30 crore in 2009-10. The Centre has also placed Rs 3,300 crore with the administration of 60 districts under the Integrated Action Plan and 67,175 works are under implementation. Eighteen more districts will be added in 2012-13 (Business Line 6/10/11) Arrested Maoists wanted to form a United Front (8) New Delhi, October 08, 2011: Two suspected Maoists — N Dilip Singh and Arun Kumar Singh — who were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday, wanted to form a joint ‘United Front’ of the CPI (Maoist) and militant organisations of Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast. “Their strategy was to support each other and overthrow the Indian government,” said PN Aggarwal, special CP (special cell). “Their joining of hands would also extend to maintaining contact and collaborating in foreign countries. They thought, the formation of ‘United Front’ would be effective in challenging the Indian Government,” he added. The arrested are members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which provides logistic, training, weapons and means of communication to CPI (Maoist). “Dilip had come to Delhi from northeast while Arun is from Pune. Their plan was to set up a joint training camp of the CPI (Maoist) and the PLA cadre in Myanmar,” Aggarwal added. Interrogation revealed that Arun had been running a travel agency in Pune since 2008. A raid was conducted at his Pune residence and his laptop and books containing incriminating material relating to Maoist ideology, intelligence units of India, security forces, Guerrilla warfare, Nepali Maoist movement and its implication, counter insurgencies, proceedings of PLA in coded language, and other materials were seized. In January this year, the Delhi Police had arrested a 28-year-old self-styled Lieutanant —Oinam Ibomcha Singh — of the banned outfit. (Hindustan Times 8/10/11) Naxal roots in Western Ghats (12) Hebri, Oct 9, DHNS: The footsteps of Naxals were rooted on the Western Ghats nine years ago. Here is a brief report on the police-naxal encounters in the region. - On November 6, 2002, an elderly woman named Cheeramma suffered injuries when a bullet hit her accidently during the naxal training camp at Menasinahadya in Koppa taluk of Chikmagalur district. This proved the existence of Naxals in the dense forest of Western Ghats. - August 6, 2003—A Naxal team was spotted near the house of Ramachandra Gowdlu in Singsar village of Kudremukh. This was the first police encounter with the Naxals. - November 17, 2003— Suspected Naxalites Hajima and Parvathi were gunned down by the police at Eedu. -December 29, 2003— Naxals set Forest Guest house on fire at Nemaru in Sringeri. - October 7, 2004— The police and Naxals exchanged gun fire near the house of Rame Gowdlu at Bukadi Bailu Talagar in Sringeri taluk. - October 7, 2004—A team of 13 Naxals kidnapped a police constable who was guarding the house of one Chandrashekar at Magabail near Kigga and took away his SLR gun and sent him back. - October 11, 2004— A Naxal suffered injuries in an exchange of gun fire between Naxals and the police near Barkana falls. - October 21, 2004— Naxalites fatally assaulted Chandrakanth, a farmer from Hemmige near Bukadibail, accusing him of being police informer. - January 29, 2005— Naxalites destroyed Forest Department Anti Poaching Squad camp at Kigga. - February 6, 2005— Police gunned down naxal leader Saketh Rajan and his aide Shivalingu at Baligegudda in Menasinahadya. - May 17, 2005— Tribal leader from Menasinahadya, Sheshaiah, was brutally killed by the Naxalites, accusing him of being a police informer. - May 26, 2005— ANF and the police force start combing operations. - June 23, 2005—Naxalites Ajith Kusubi and Umesh were killed by the police in Devarabalu encounter. - August 23, 2006— Naxals attack Kerekatte Forest Department office. - December 25, 2006-Naxal Dinakar was killed near Kigga in Sringeri. - March 13, 2007— Suspected Naxal Chennamma was arrested. - June 3, 2007— A shopkeeper Venkatesh was killed by the Naxals at Gundaghatta near Kigga in Sringeri. - A KSRTC bus was set on fire by a gang of nine Naxals at Thallur Angadi near Agumbe. - July 10, 2007— Naxal Gautham, Rashtriya Udyana Virodhi Okkuta General Secretary Parameshwar, labourer Sundaresh, Ramegowdlu and Kaveri were killed in an encounter at Odeyara Mutt in Guddethota Gram Panchayat limits of Koppa taluk. - July17, 2007—SI Venkatesh was killed in an exchange of fire with Naxals at

Hullarabail near Agumbe. - May 15, 2008—Teacher Bhoja Shetty and farmer Suresh Shetty were killed by the Naxals near Seethanadi at Hebri. - July 7, 2008—Arms were found at Kuthloor and Thingalamakki. - November 4, 2008—A Forest Watcher was threatened by the Naxals at Madamakki. - November 13, 2008—Suspected Naxal Janardhan was killed in Shimoga and huge arms were seized. - November 14, 2008—The court releases suspected Naxal Chennamma. - November 20, 2008—Manohar, Naveen and Abhilash were killed in an encounter at Mavinaholla near Horanadu. - December 7, 2008—Farmer Keshava Yadiyala was killed at Hallihole near Kundapur. - February 14, 2009—Naxals’ threat against Koodlu hydro electricity project. - March 3, 2009— Naxals hold an open meeting at Nadpali - August 19, 2009-Naxals enter into the house of one Narasimhamurthy and threaten him not to support the BJP at Markal Panchayat in Sringeri. - August 22, 2009—Kigga encounter. - August 24, 2009— The police seize arms in an operation at Dindodi near Sringeri. - September 2, 2009—Shimoga SP Murugan gets Z category security following threat from Naxals. - November 11, 2009— For the first time in the history of the State, about 1500 police personnel carry out combing operations in Udupi, Shimoga and DK using technology. Three such operations were held so far. - November 20, 2009—Suspected Naxal Mallesh was arrested at Shimoga. - November 27, 2009- Mallika is relieved from Naxal list. - December 6, 2009— IGP (Eastern range) Sathyanarayana informs that number of Naxals in Malnad has declined to 30. -February 26, 2010— Naxals become active in Kabbinale, Mathavu and Mutlupadu region. - March 1, 2010—Naxal Kuthloor Vasanth alias Anand was killed in an encounter at Mutlupadi. - October 9, 2011— Police constable Mahadev Mane was killed by Naxal during combing operations. (Deccan Herald 9/10/11) Only probe can reveal sequence of events: IGP (12) ELTHANGADY, October 10, 2011: Inconsistencies in the sequence of events recorded in the FIR and the version narrated by a member of the Anti-Naxal Force team that carried out combing operations could only be explained by an investigation, Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) Alok Mohan has said. After the Funeral Guard of Honour held in honour to M.S. Mane, who was killed during combing operations, Mr. Mohan told presspersons on Sunday that the face-off with the “naxalites” happened in a split second speed and the policemen would have been in a state of confusion and would not have been able to make out what was going on. According to the FIR, the ANF team had fired in self-defence after it was fired upon by a group of “naxalites”. However, a member of the ANF team said that it was he who fired the first shot. An ambush operation was organised with the objective of going on the offensive, Mr. Mohan added. Bipin Gopalkrishna, Additional Director-General of Police (Internal Security), said the bullet had entered Mr. Mane's body from behind. During the post-mortem that the bullet could not be removed by the doctor. So it would be sent to Mangalore to be removed by forensic doctors. While Home Minister R. Ashok said that the “naxalites” encountered by the ANF team on Saturday were not from Karnataka, the FIR named Vikram Gowda and Sundari, who hailed from Chikmagalur district and Dakshina Kannada district respectively. Director-General of Police Neelam Achuta Rao said that the identities of the “naxalite” could only be revealed after an investigation. When it was pointed out that many senior police officials had stated in the past that there was presence of “naxalites” in the State, Mr. Gopalkrishna said the IGP had received information about “Naxal movement” in the area and had carried out combing operations accordingly. Mr. Gopalkrishna said the police had “tentatively selected” 15 locations for setting up permanent ANF camps. These teams would visit the villages within their jurisdiction to instil security in the people, he said. Mr. Gopalkrishna said that a single live bullet, sickle, and torch had been found at the site, but those who visited the exact spot of the encounter said a long metal stick used to dig mud had also been found there. Mr. Mohan said that two ambush teams had been sent to comb the forests on Saturday, after the police received information about “Naxal movement” in the area. Around 11.30 p.m. one group was faced with a group of 10-15 Naxals and both sides exchanged fire. Based on the sound that suggested a woman's scream of pain, it was likely that even the “naxalites” had suffered some damage. (The Hindu 10/9/11)

Naxal carrying cash reward killed in encounter (12) Raipur, October 11, 2011: A Naxalite carrying a cash reward of Rs. 5,000, was killed in an encounter with the security forces, in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, police said. The face-off took place near Chinari village forests when a group of Maoists opened indiscriminate firing on a joint patrol team of the CRPF and State police force, drawing retaliation from the security men, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police, Mayank Shrivastava told PTI. A Naxalite, identified as Negi Rawat was killed in the encounter and his body has been recovered. Many cases including murder and attack on police teams were registered against him in the district, the SP said. Some weapons and Naxal literature was also recovered from the spot, police added. (The Hindu 11/10/11) Joint operations to check Maoist infiltration (12) CHENNAI, October 13, 2011: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Tamil Nadu Police and the Forest Department will conduct joint combing operations along the Western Ghats and inter-State borders that span over 15 districts in the State. According to police sources, a decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting between police and forest officials held at the office of the Director General of Police here on Wednesday. While agreeing to share intelligence and resources, the two departments would also have joint training exercises. The STF was formed with a primary objective to apprehend sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. After the forest brigand was shot dead in 2004, the force largely focussed on training police personnel in jungle warfare. “We will now work with the forest officials in preventing poaching, smuggling and left-wing extremism. Forest guards will also contribute to anti-naxal operations by sharing intelligence on suspicious persons or activities along the State borders,” a senior police official said. The 22,000 sq km of reserve forest area spanning between Tiruvallur and Kanyakumari districts has seven STF camps and borders with Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. “Police and Forest officials will create a database of habitual offenders and other extremist elements. We have suggested that photo identity cards be given to watchers appointed by the Forest Department on daily wage basis,” he said. As part of the joint combing operations, STF personnel would be deployed in Anti-poaching Watcher Camps and Watch Towers located in interior forest areas. “We are also contemplating joint patrolling exercises with the police of neighbouring States. As per the latest report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 100 incidents of naxal violence were reported in Andhra Pradesh in 2010 which resulted in the death of 24 persons,” the official added. Director General of Police K. Ramanujam said police and forest officials at different levels would meet periodically and work on issues of common interest. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Gautam Dey, Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) Abash Kumar, Inspector General of Police and Chief of STF Shankar Jiwal were among the officials who took part in the discussions, police sources added. (The Hindu 13/10/11) Maoist posters in Jangalmahal, mediators wary (12) KOLKATA/BOLPUR: A day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee's seven-day deadline to Maoists to lay down arms, a bunch of handwritten CPI(Maoist) posters appeared in tribal-dominated Jangalmahal on Sunday, asking her to keep her poll promise on withdrawing joint forces. "Stop duping people in the nameof dialogue while deploying joint forces in Jangalmahal," said a poster recovered from Bhadutala in Salboni on Sunday morning. Members of outfits believed to be working as front organizations for CPI(Maoist) did not hide their disappointment over Mamata's highpitched warning on Saturday. Sujato Bhadra, who leads the team of interlocutors for talks between Maoists and the Mamata government, said while the CM's comments at Jhargram won't hamper the peace process, "she should be more careful in her selection of words, her language should be more controlled". "Though such comments may create political grudge, the peace process is on and it would not be spoilt by her comments. It was part of her political speech." At Saturday's meeting in Jhargram, Mamata had called the rebels "contract killers".Bhadra said it had been decided that Maoists would declare a ceasefire and the government would stop operations by joint forces. "The Maoists kept their word. After the murder of Babu Bose, no

incident of violence was committed by Maoists. It is true killing and peace talks can't go hand-in-hand. But is it possible for operations and peace discussions to go on simultaneously? The preconditions of peace talks must be fulfilled." Asked about the seven-day ultimatum, he said: "It depends on the nature and progress of the discussion. It may be increased or decreased." He said the interlocutors had been told by Maoists that "supporters and members of some mainstream parties are carrying arms in Jangalmahal now". Talks can't take place at gunpoint: Activist. Rights activist Chhoton Das - one of the signatories (along with Maoist state secretary Akash) in the joint statement issued on the Maoists' ceasefire proposal - is optimistic even after Mamata Banerjee issued an ultimatum to the Maoists. "The CM has left doors open for dialogue. She has just asked them to shun violence when she mentioned a week-long deadline. It does not suggest that she is no more interested in talks," he said. Members of civil liberty movements like Amit Bhattacharyya, who is believed to have played a crucial role in the peace process, are not convinced. "The way the CM spoke was unexpected," said Bhattacharyya, who along with Mahasweta Devi and Varavara Rao had written an open letter to Mamata earlier this month reminding her about "earlier promises" on withdrawal of joint forces and release of political prisoners to set a conducive atmosphere for talks. "No dialogue can take place at gun point," said Bhattacharyya. He alleged that after issuing a joint statement on ceasefire, the Maoists had stayed away from violence, but the government had continued with arrests and operation. Leaders of Santras Durniti O Samrajyabadi Agrason Birodhi Mancha, a major stakeholder in Jangalmahal politics and believed to be a Maoist mass outfit, even went to the extent of questioning the credibility of the interlocutors. "Security forces are raiding villages, torturing people and arresting villagers. The Trinamool Congress is backing armed vigilant groups. But, officially, the government claims there is no joint operation. Jangalmahal people are losing faith in this government," said Ashok Jiban, raising doubts about the seriousness of the talks. His jailed colleague Chhatradhar Mahato had said in a written statement recently that the government was trying to broker peace in Jangalmahal at gunpoint. (Times of India 17/10/11) Development test in area freed of Maoists (12) New Delhi, Oct. 16: The Centre plans to make a Jharkhand pocket recently rid of Maoists a test case to prove how a security offensive and development can solve the problem of Left-wing extremism. The rural development ministry plans to launch a slew of development schemes in the Saranda forest, from where the rebels were driven out in a two-month operation that ended early last month. Minister Jairam Ramesh has sent the proposal to home minister P. Chidambaram seeking his support. “The Saranda forest area was under the control of Maoists for over 10 years. The CRPF has liberated the area. We want to make it a test case to prove how development activities and police action can go hand in hand, win the confidence of people and keep Maoists away,” Ramesh said. Spread over 855sqkm in West Singhbhum district, the area’s 56 villages with a population of 36,500 have not seen any development after they came under the control of Maoists in 2000. The CPI (Maoist) and its frontal organisations were virtually running a parallel government in the area, keeping it out of bounds for government officials. Although there are schools and Anganwadi centres, there has so far been no monitoring or supervision by the government. The CRPF liberated the area from the rebels through Operation Anaconda, conducted between July 1 and September 1 this year. Access is a big problem as the communication network in the area is in bad shape. None of the schemes of the rural development ministry, such as the job plan NREGS, has been implemented in the villages, Ramesh said. In his letter to the home minister, Ramesh has suggested a multi-pronged approach, and a rural development ministry team will travel to Saranda this weekend to finalise the action plan.Ramesh discussed the proposal with chief minister Arjun Munda during a recent visit to Jharkhand. According to the plan, the district administration will open 10 integrated developmental centres (IDCs) at strategic locations to provide basic services such as ration and health care. The IDCs will also hand out BPL and Antyodaya Anna Scheme (free food for the poorest of the poor) cards. Widows will be sanctioned Rs 10,000 under the National Family Benefit Scheme. The Indira Awaas Yojana will be started, too, with an estimated 5,000 houses to be built. A land survey will be carried out

and plots distributed to landless tribal people under the Forest Rights Act. The NREGS will also be implemented, and labourers will be hired under the scheme to build concrete roads, drainage facilities and community centres in the villages. Safe drinking water, speedy electrification and small passenger vehicles will be provided as public transport is almost non-existent and people will have to otherwise walk for miles to avail the basic services. As there are no health-care facilities, mobile health units — doctors in vehicles equipped with basic medical equipment — will be used. Helicopters may help critically ill patients reach hospitals, sending a message that air-lifting isn’t just for security forces, Ramesh said in the proposal. Skill-development schemes aimed at the youths and women will be launched to help them find jobs. (Telegraph 17/10/11) Centre's multi-winged plan to tackle Naxalism (12) NEW DELHI, October 18, 2011: The United Progressive Alliance government on Monday chalked out its first multi-winged operation to tackle the problem of Naxalism through development programmes, implemented under the protection of Central security forces. Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh finalised the action plan for Saranda forest area in Jharkhand, considered to be the second stronghold of the Maoists in the country, with Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahto at a meeting attended by officials of the Union Home Ministry and the DG Central Reserve Police Force. Technical help from the Army has also been sought for the plan. The General Officer Commanding of the Central Command had met Mr. Ramesh a couple of days ago. The objective, Mr. Ramesh pointed out, was to consolidate the logistic gains registered by the CRPF in the Saranda region and achieve demonstrable success not only to gain experience but also to showcase what could be rolled out in other areas in phases. The role of the Army, which has taken up development work in 11 villages of Narainpur and Bijapur, is to just help the paramilitary forces as it does not want to make its presence felt on a large scale. Even as a seven-member team of the Ministry of Rural Development is scheduled to visit Jharkhand to formalise the action plan, Mr. Ramesh's personal secretary Vineel Krishna, whom the Maoists had kidnapped when he was posted as District Magistrate of Malkangiri in Orissa, would be undertaking a tour of Jangalmahal region of West Bengal to prepare the ground work for a similar multi-winged intervention. Mr. Ramesh maintained that the success in Saranda was critical before operation could be started in the Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh and Gadchiroli of Maharashtra, where the Maoists are ensconced firmly. The Central action plan entails an expenditure of about Rs.325 crore, besides the budgetary allocation under various heads covering the 56 villages of six panchayats of Saranda to benefit a population of about 36,000 tribals. It includes free distribution of solar lantern, bicycles, and transistors to 7,000 families at an estimated cost of Rs.5.2 crore and 200 hand pumps at a cost of Rs.1.2 crore. The Jharkhand government would undertake a survey to bring all the families under the BPL list, to include them under the Indira Aawas Yojana, give them pattas for up to four hectares of land , and provide old age pension to those eligible. The Centre has decided to deploy three battalions of the CRPF and set up 20 camps in the core area. The CRPF will give protection during construction of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. (The Hindu 18/10/11) Maoist bandh call has little impact in Junglemahal (12) MIDNAPORE, WBl A bandh called by Maoists in Junglemahal today at the expiry of the seven-day ultimatum given to them by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to lay down arms, failed to evoke much response, with the PCPA also campaigning against the shutdown. The joint forces were on intensified patrol in West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura districts, the forested areas of which are collectively known as Junglemahal. Tribal youths, defied the bandh call and arrived on bicycles from long distances at police stations in the three districts to collect forms for recruitment in the National Volunteer Force, homeguards and as junior police constables. The chief minister had announced 10,000 jobs in the NVF, homeguards and police for the tribal youths of Junglemahal.In Purulia district, the Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), claimed to be Maoist-backed, surprisingly campaigned against the

shutdown with loudspeakers in the Maoist-strongholds of Balarampur, Bagmundi and Bandwan, police sources said. Private buses were not plying in Barikul, Sarenga, Ranibandh and Simlapal in Bankura district and shops were mostly closed, but life was normal elsewhere in the district, the sources said. (Times of India 22/10/11) Jobs for three-lakh youth in Naxal-hit areas: Jaira m Ramesh (12) New Delhi: Apart from ensuring the immediate appointment of 18,000 panchayat development officers and as many junior engineers, the Centre has drawn up a blueprint to provide jobs to three-lakh youth in the 60 left wing extremist affected districts in the country. Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, in his consolidated note for the approval of the Empowered Group of Secretaries for the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) under Planning Commission member Sudha Pillai, dovetails a number of rural development schemes for better impact in the Naxalite-affected districts, For better implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), Mr. Ramesh has ordered that each panchayat appoint one panchayat development officer and a junior engineer for a period of 10 years from within the district. Non-residents would not be considered for these posts. Apart from proposing that the cost be shared in the ratio of 75:25 between the Centre and States, Mr. Ramesh's decision will ensure the appointment of about 18,000 graduates as development officers and as many junior level engineers as some districts have more than 300 panchayats. All these districts would be covered under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) by March 2013 with the objective of training and providing jobs to three lakh youths over the next five years. To ensure a better return to the tribals, a public-private partnership (PPP) pilot project in non-timber forest produce will be launched in one district each of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Private companies will add value by training women self-help groups (SHGs) and marketing the non-timber produce. The tribals were not getting the real value of their produce, Mr. Ramesh said and hoped that the current arrangement would help them realise the full value of their produce. He said he was holding talks with companies such as ITC, Ballarpur, Dabur, Wipro and Emami. Aiming to identify the destitute, Mr. Ramesh has ordered that the district administration construct houses under the Indira Aawas Yojana (IAY) for the disabled, widowed and old age pensioners as mere financial help did not serve the purpose unable as they were to handle the job. Mr. Ramesh also decided to extend support to those who have been at the receiving end of the Naxalite movement. Irrespective of their socio-economic standing, the government would provide a house under the IAY to those whose house had been damaged in a Naxalite attack. (The Hindu 25/10/11) Interlocutors send note to West Bengal government, Maoists (12) KOLKATA, October 26, 2011: The team of interlocutors appointed by the West Bengal Government to explore the possibility of peace talks with the Maoists has submitted a note on the discussions. The note was sent to the Government and the State leadership of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). It “summarises the discussions” the interlocutors had with both the sides since it was formed in July. Implicit in the note are the views of the interlocutors on taking the process for negotiations forward. “Both the sides are now free to add, reject or make alterations to the note which is only a summarisation of the discussions that have taken place with us. If they agree to it they can let us know……An agenda for discussions between the two sides to take the peace process forward could then be drawn up,” key interlocutor Sujato Bhadra told The Hindu on Tuesday. “Operations by the joint security forces should be suspended, while there should be a cessation of hostilities by the Maoists. Only then can there be an atmosphere conducive for talks and for mutual trust between the two sides,” he said. This “pre-condition” finds mention in the note. “If there is an agreement on these lines then discussions [between the State government and the Maoists] can take place in the future,” Mr. Bhadra asserted. The interlocutors would take the responsibility of bringing the Maoists to the negotiating table as long as the State government ensured the rebels safe custody, he added. The note reiterates that both the State and the Maoists are

keen to ensure peace in the State's Jangalmahal region, where the rebels have been active. The note was sent to the parties concerned two days after the expiry of seven-day deadline given to the Maoists on October 15 by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to lay down their arms and come for negotiations and against the backdrop of ample evidence that her government was still open to discussions with the rebels. As for the Maoists, their offer earlier this month for a ceasefire in the Jangalmahal region — on the condition that operations by the joint security forces are suspended for a month — had been communicated by the interlocutors to the Chief Minister at a meeting convened by the latter on October 18. The Maoists had also demanded that the police as well as armed outfits such as the “Bhairab Bahini,” which they claim is patronised by the Trinamool Congress, stop attacking them. (The Hindu 26/10/11) Security forces destroy Maoist camp (12) Sambalpur, Oct 27 : Security forces have destroyed a Maoist camp during an extensive combing operation inside the Jaduloisingh forest under Jujomura police station. The combing operation was launched after the armed left-wing ultras set fire to several vehicles of a construction company at Mundher on Tuesday last. Sambalpur Superintendent of police Nikhil Kanodia said police also seized detonators, cooking materials, uniforms and literatures from the camp yesterday. Police sources said one Kunu Dehuri, a local cadre and another one Girish Mahato from Jharkhand were reorganising the organisation with local youths. Both were said to be the mastermind behind the Maoist attack in the area including the Tuesday's attack on the camp of the private construction company. The SP said the combing operation had been intensified in Jujomura area after the Tuesday's attack in which over 20 vehicles of the construction company were set ablaze by the Red rebels. During the combing operation, almost 300 rounds were exchanged between the Maoists and the security forces, after which the left-wing ultras fled from the scene. While searching the camp in the forest, the police had recovered rice and other food materials, dress, books and the gun of the security guard of the construction company which the Maoists had taken away during the attack.(New Kerala 27/10/11) CM not serious about peace process: Maoists (12) MIDNAPORE: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee's seven-day ultimatum has hardly had its desired effect on the Maoist guerrillas camping in Jangalmahal. Akash, the state secretary of the Maoists, said they will not seize to demand basic rights for the tribals. While this strong note is a major jolt in the peace process, jailed tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato's wife Niyati Mahato, on the other hand, accepted talks offer floated by Trinamool leader Mukul Roy and assured to meet him on November 3. "We want peace. But we can't accept the peace proposal leaving the basic rights of the tribals and their right to self determination," said Akash, who claimed his people are not afraid of the CM warning. Simultaneously, Niyai has been invited by Roy to initiate talks. "Jaydeep Mikherjee from the legal aid forum had offered us talks with Roy. We are eager for the dialogue," said Ashok Jiban, convener of the Santras Durnity Birodhi Committee, an umbrella outfit believed to be floated by the Maoists. The Maoist state secretary claimed that since they offered the ceasefire, they did not involve in any violence despite several provocations and kept their word. But the state government failed to keep their word and continued their operation against the Maoists. "We have strong doubts that Mamata is not serious about the peace process and her proposal is just an eye-wash," said Akash. The rebel leader also claimed that common people of Jangalmahal did not participate in Mamata's rally in Jhargram as her government failed to keep her promises made before the polls. Even the Maoist state leader claimed that they had not planted any IED on the tracks near Sardiha and did not threaten people to stay away from Mamata's rally. The strong reply from the Maoists, however, could not pull back Niyoti to meet Roy. Maoists are believed to be closing all doors of dialogue as they reasoned that they have been losing trust on the interlocutors. But Chhatradhar is still optimist to start talks. " We always advocated for talks. But any dialogue should be in official level," said Ashok Jiban, convener of Santras Birosdhi Committee. The change of stance once again put the Jangalmahal situation under speculation. Maoists are not worried about the ultimatum announced by the

state chief minister Mamata Banerjee, said rebel leader Akash, who is now in charge of state unit of the rebel outfit in Bengal. Virtually ruling out Mamata's ultimatum to the Maoists for laying down arms within seven days, the rebel leader clearly stated that despite most stringent steps from the government they will not leave the demands of basic demands of tribal rights. (Times of India 30/10/11) Empower tribals first, Munda tells Centre (12) NEW DELHI, November 1, 2011: Even as the Union government chalked out an action plan for the uplift of the people of the Naxal-infested Saranda forest area, Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda said a permanent solution to the Naxalite problem was not possible without eliciting the tribals participation and bestowing them with economic shareholding in the use of mineral resources. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh finalised the pilot action plan for the region at a meeting attended by Mr. Munda, Central Reserve Police Force Director-General K. Vijay Kumar and officials of the Home Ministry. The Centre intends to use the plan as a precursor scheme to weaken Maoists in their other strongholds. Mr. Munda said the Centre needed to take tough decisions and provide a permanent solution to the Naxal problem. Mr. Ramesh offered to relax rules for speedy implementation of the development schemes in these areas. The Centre would help in constructing a 70 km-long concrete road to connect Kiruburu andKarampara under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Accepting Mr. Munda's suggestion, Mr. Ramesh said he would take it up with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to find an alternative strategy to connect the 3000 villages which remained cut off due to the existing environment and forest laws. Mr. Munda said the proposal to provide 26 per cent of the profit arising from mining activities to the local tribals was not enough. He demanded that the Centre decide on the share holding system to ensure development. The constitutional safeguards were not being implemented and these had to be ensured for a permanent solution while pursuing the short-term plans, he said and called for ensuring tribals' participation in the economic activities of the region, not just in Jharkhand but also in all the scheduled areas as enunciated under the Constitution. The Steel Authority of India was awarded the Chiria iron ore mines in Saranda and it was likely to commence its operations soon. Mr. Munda also called for urgently deciding on the criteria to define the below poverty line (BPL) list. He pointed out that the State was providing special ration to 11 lakh tribal families, who have been kept out of the BPL list despite them meeting the criteria. He demanded that the Centre provide other facilities due to the BPL families which the State cannot dole out. While the CRPF is likely to impart training to the Jharkhand police, the State will raise a separate Pahari (tribals) battalion to provide jobs to youth. (The Hindu 1/11/11) TMC will drive out the Maoists: Subhendu (12) BELPAHARI (West Midnapore) : Hopes of a ceasefire is fading out in Jangalmahal. Days after a "strong" reply from the Maoists, ruling Trinamool Congress virtually responded with a war cry against the Red brigade on Tuesday. Addressing a rally at Belpahari in the Maoist heartland, Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikary said, "It was us who had driven out CPM from Nandigram. We will do that with those armed gangs in Jangalmahal." Incidentally, when the Trinamool strongman was spewing venom at the Maoists in Belpahari, at the same time, a huge contingent of forces - comprising Counter Insurgency Force and COBRA - was busy in a strategic operation in the Ayodhya Hills of Purulia to smoke out the rebels. The much-hyped Belpahari rally - where Adhikary was supposed to address "a gathering of more than one lakh people" - saw a crowd of around 5,000 Trinamool supporters. Most of them came from outside Jangalmahal and even from East Midnapore. The Maoists had asked the people of Jangalmahal not to attend Adhikary's rally. The meeting was held under tight security and the main programme was over in just 90 minutes. Adhikary, however, was undeterred. "On November 12, I will take out a procession from Aguiboni to Birihandi and on November 18, another rally will be held at Ragara of Jhargram," announced the MP. Both areas are considered to be strong Maoist bases. "Let the Maoists stop me," he said. Though Union minister Mukul Roy, local MLA and minister Sukumar Hansda and Contai MLA Sisir Adhikary were present on the dais along with some district Trinamool leaders, but it was Subhendu who was the main

attraction of the show. The meeting was supposed to start at noon at the ground behind Belpahari block development office. But finally, it began at 1.30pm.The entire road to Belpahari from Jhargram was teeming with security personnel. Heavy contingent of elite anti-Maoist forces escorted the leaders, but despite all efforts the rebels managed to trigger a panic by planting a metal box with electric wires at Malabati forest, on the way to Belpahari. Bomb disposal squad found some empty phenyl containers inside the metal box. In his bid to convince the people of Jangalmahal, the Tamluk MP said: "No one can develop Jangalmahal, except Trinamool. Before and after the polls, whatever promises Mamata Banerjee had made, she is trying her best to keep them." Bringing the Maoists and the CPM in the same bracket, Adhikary said: "Maoists are now providing shelter to the killers like Chandi Karan, Anuj Pandey and Dalim Pandey. We have information that they are now at a safe shelter at Lalgarh's Chhoto Pelia." They are using terror tactic to stall the system of democracy here. CPM had also tried the same way. But people revolted, said Adhikary. (Times of India 2/11/11) Police yet to locate 15 kidnapped by Maoists (12) PATNA, November 3, 2011 : As many as 15 people, who were abducted by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in Bihar's Jamui district late on Monday, are yet to be traced despite intensified operations by security personnel. Jamui Superintendent of Police Raj Narain Singh told The Hindu that the hostages were being held in a 7-8 km stretch of mountainous terrain between Jamui and Giridih district, which falls in Jharkhand.Police said eight labourers, three villagers and four employees of a private construction firm engaged by the Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation were kidnapped at gun-point. The outlaws stormed the firm's office at Balthar Ghat in Jamui after it refused to pay the requisite levy amount demanded by themAfter failing to know the whereabouts of the firm's contractor and other key personnel, they abducted the labourers and villagers. Police said the ultras had not imposed any ultimatum as yet but were demanding a “sizeable” ransom. (The Hindu 3/11/11) Mamata warns Maoists after killing of Trinamool wor ker (12) Kolkata, November 4, 2011: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had given a call to Maoists in Junglemahal to lay down arms and hold talks, on Friday issued a stern warning to the ultras saying the peace initiative should not be mistaken for weakness. “For the last four months joint security force operations have been suspended (in junglemahal) and the government is carrying on the peace initiative unilaterally, but our patience should not be mistaken for weakness,” Ms. Banerjee said in an interview to a TV channel here. With Trinamool Congress worker Jeetu Singh Sardar of Ghatbera village in Purulia district being the latest victim of the Maoists, the Chief Minister said, “Some people believe in bloodshed.” “If this continues then we will have to take measures because the rule of the law should prevail,” she said. She also alleged that CPI(M) ‘harmads’ (armed cadre) were hand in glove with Maoists in perpetrating violence, killing and atrocities. “I will not tolerate this and have told the police to be strict and, if needed, to take action,” she said. Ms. Banerjee claimed that Maoists were finding support from some political leaders and academicians in Kolkata. “Some political leaders of Behala and some professors of Jadavpur University are providing support to Maoists and spreading rumours against the government,” she alleged. She said that a former superintendent of police in a Maoist-hit area “under whose leadership CPI(M) cadres conducted operations”, was not being given a posting for the last four months. She said she was willing to take any step to end bloodshed and establish peace in Junglemahal. (The Hindu 4/11/11) Maoists release kidnapped people (12) Jamui, November 5, 2011: Fifteen people who were abducted by Maoists from Bihar’s Jamui district were on Saturday released by the rebels in a jungle here, police said. The ultras freed them in the forest near Charaiya area. They were being sent back to their respective families, they said. CRPF, Special Task Force and police were engaged in the operations to secure safe release of the abducted persons,

Additional DGP (Headquarters) Ravindra Kumar said. On Monday, a group of about 50 Maoists had stormed the office of a private company engaged by Bihar State Bridge Corporation to construct a bridge over Bharnar river and abducted the 15 people at gunpoint. The 15 comprised eight labourers, four employees of the firm and 3 villagers. The refusal of the management of the construction firm to meet the extortion demands of the ultras was suspected to be the reason behind the abduction, Mr. Kumar said. Stating that all the freed people were hale and hearty, DGP Abhayanand said police had collected several evidences relating to kidnapping of the labourers and others. Without naming any outfit, he said the involvement of an organisation banned by the Centre is believed to be behind the incident. He clarified that although the case registered at Sono police station said 15 persons were kidnapped by the Maoists, but on verification it was found that 14 persons were kidnapped and another was on leave on that night. (The Hindu 5/11/11) Maoists call for protest on November 13 (12) VISAKHAPATNAM: CPI ML Maoists on Saturday gave a call to the people to observe November 13 as Lalgarh agitation day in the district. The Galikonda area committee of the banned outfit in the district pasted posters at Sapparla of GK Veedhi mandal on Saturday and urged the tribals to fight on the line of the Lalgarh agitation for the rights on the forest and eliminate the bauxite companies from the agency area. With increasing combing operations by the security personnel on the one side, and the Maoists circulating warning posters and leaflets on the other, the tribals are living in a state of extreme fear, said locals. (Times of India 6/11/11) ‘Kudremukh issue gave rise to naxalism' (12) MANGALORE, November 8, 2011: A study by the Samajawadi Adhyayana Kendra (Centre for Socialist Studies), Bangalore, in 2005 on the socio-economic problems in the naxal-affected Malnad area says that the feudal system, which gave rise to naxalism elsewhere in the country, is not prevalent in the Malnad region. The study says that economic disparity, which is also a reason for the birth of naxalism in some parts of the country, is not alarming in Malnad region. The issue surrounding the Kudremukh National Park – such as forest dwellers' apprehensions that they will be evicted or not allowed to collect forest produce gave scope for naxalism in the region. A team of 15 persons representing different organisations conducted the study on March 11 and March 12, 2005. The team in three groups visited Kuthugodu, Dyawagodu, Menasina Hadya, Nemmar, Bukkadibail, Mundodi, Kigga, Salavanthi, Kudige, Hulugarubail and Kere Katte areas and met the local people, according to its 44-page report, a copy which is with The Hindu, submitted to the State government in April, 2005. The team, which included playwright Girish Kasaravalli and G.N. Nagaraj of CPI (M), said there were 2,028 families within the purview of Kudremukh National Park spread in Sringeri, Koppa, Mudigere, Karkala and Belthangady taluks. In that, 1,425 were tribal families. It noted that skilled labourers in the region who work in arecanut cultivation and processing-related activities got decent wage. Arecanut farmers and tribal people in the region led a cordial life and tribal people had no complaints against farmers. Most tribal people owned land but the Dalits were considered untouchables. With regard to daily wages, the study found that skilled labourers got decent wages when compared to labourers in other parts of the State. But when compared to the tribal people, the condition of Dalits left a lot to be desired. Socially, they were still untouchables and they lived outside the village limits. And Dalits could not even think of owning property. Meanwhile, a senior Indian Police Service official who was involved in anti-naxal operations in Malnad region in 2003 has gone on record that a survey by the People's War Group (PWG) in the early 1990s found that while there is no acute poverty in the region, there is a class division in society and the poor are mainly tribal people and those from the Scheduled Castes. They survey, named `Socoma' (Social Conditions in Malnad), concluded that the PWG could expand its operations in the Western Ghats for “strategic reasons”. They found an “issue” in the Supreme Court judgment directing the authorities to evict encroachers from the Kudremukh National Park area, he said. (The Hindu 8/11/11)

‘Take cue from others in tackling naxal issue' (12) BHUBANESWAR, November 10, 2011: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said that Odisha Government should learn from the experiences of other States and the Centre in order to tackle the Maoist menace successfully. Mr. Chidambaram, who came to attend a high-level meeting to review the Maoist problem at the State Secretariat here, said that the meeting was successful and he too had learnt about the situation prevailing in the region. Talking to presspersons after his meeting with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Union Home Minister told presspersons that the number of casualties of civilian and security forces in the State had stood at 48 by the end of October “This is unacceptably high level of casualty,” he said. In an apparent attempt to justify his displeasure over the fact that there had been not much improvement in the situation, Mr. Chidambaram said four years ago there were only four battalions of Central forces in the State and at present there were 13 battalions apart from one Cobra battalion. Stating that about 60 police station areas had been affected by Left-wing extremists in the State so far, Mr. Chidambaram said that during the review meeting he impressed upon the State Government the need to show results with the security forces available in the State. On the other hand, M. Patnaik claimed that there was a decline in the Maoist activities in the State in comparison with the previous years. The State Government had achieved much progress with regard to combating the Maoists, he said. Meanwhile, main opposition Congress and Sawajwadi Party submitted memorandums to Mr. Chidambaram listing their demands. (The Hindu 10/11/11) Five Maoists arrested in Bihar (12) Five Maoists were arrested on Thursday after an encounter between security forces and rebels at Suarmanwa forest in Rohtas district of Bihar. A joint team of police and CRPF’s CoBRA unit launched an operation based on specific intelligence input, Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said. The encounter lasted for about two hours during which the joint team personnel used about 100 rounds in retaliatory action after they were fired upon by the ultras, he said. Blood marks at several places in the encounter site indicated that several Maoists may have sustained injuries in the encounter, Mr. Maharaj said. Three rifles, 25 detonators, 25 live cartridges, three magazines and some other materials used for processing weapons were seized, the SP said. The arrested ultras have been identified as Jagdish Chero, Nandu Vishwakarma, Tikaram Chero, Uday Ram and Munni Chero, he said. While Jagdish Chero was said to be a member of the Rohtas sub-zonal committee of the proscribed unit, Chandu Vishwakarma belonged to Jharkhand and had expertise in processing weapons, Mr. Maharaj said. Combing and search operation in Suarmanwa forests was still on, he said. (The Hindu 10/11/11) Wanted: Women to drive development in Maoist areas (12) New Delhi, Nov 20 : In an effort to bridge the development deficit in areas seen as Maoist hotbeds, the government is encouraging young women to take up the challenge by becoming Prime Minister's Rural Development Fellows (PMRDF). Launched in September this year, the PMRDF scheme aims at deploying young professionals in each of the 60 left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected districts to assist the district collector in implementing the government's Integrated Action Plan (IAP). Interestingly, among the 60 district collectors in LWE areas, only four are women. "We are encouraging women to take up the challenge of working in the LWE areas. We don't want them to be held back," Nandita Chatterjee, deputy director general of the Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), told IANS. The government is looking for graduates/post-graduates in law, engineering and medicine, preferably aged between 25 and 30 years. The fellows would have a two-year contract and get an honorarium with performance linked bonus, said officials. Chatterjee said they have received 792 applications till Nov 17 for the scheme, which is open till Dec 4. "There is a shortage of young and qualified professionals in the district administration in the LWE areas," said a senior official of the rural development ministry, which controls CAPART. The government launched IAP in 2010 to push

development after the home ministry identified 60 tribal and backward districts as LWE affected areas. Under IAP, each district gets a grant of Rs.55 crore which is utilised through a committee headed by the district collector. The superintendent of police and the district forest officer are also members of the panel. The committee draws up plans to create public infrastructure and services like schools, anganwadi centres, primary health centres, drinking water supply and village roads in public places to address the problem of underdevelopment in the LWE areas. Officials said the PMRDF scheme provides an opportunity for committed young people to contribute to development and welfare in rural and tribal areas of the country. The government hopes the training process and intensive development facilitation work at the village, block and district levels through the fellows will provide an exceptional growth potential. Besides functioning as development facilitators in the IAP districts, the fellows would also provide necessary analysis of the ground level situation and ways to handle them. The fellows would actively pursue three key strategies of finding ways of resourcing all planned activities and rational budgeting, exploring alternative ways of delivering services to the most deprived communities and triggering processes which would support the envisioned changes. Officials said the move would be complemented by supportive action such as building capacity of district and block officials, triggering district-wide social mobilisation, particularly among the youth, and building strong relationships with the panchayats. (New Kerala 20/11/11) Answer Maoist guns with development: Ramesh (12) MIDNAPORE: On a day when chief minister Mamata Banerjee tried to convince interlocutors to continue with their assignment to bring the Maoists to the talks table, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh voiced his resentment against the rebels during his tour of West Midnapore. "Maoists neither want development nor a political solution. They only believe in extremism and the language of the gun. Development and economic uplift of adivasis must be used as weapons to counter the Maoists' guns," Ramesh said. After reaching Midnapore circuit house at noon, Ramesh held meetings with district officials and inquired about progress of work under various centrally-sponsored schemes like the Prime Minister's Grameen Smarak Yojana and Indira Awas Yojana. The minister said districts as densely populated as West Midnapore should be divided. The Centre has listed 60 districts across the country as Maoist-infested, including West Midnapore. The minister has, so far, toured 14 of these districts. Another 18 districts, including Bankura and Purulia, will soon join that list. Ramesh also inspected houses built from the Backward Regions Grant Fund at Khas Jangal mouza in Midnapore Sadar block and a drinking water treatment plant at Bhaluk Khuniya village, also built under a central development scheme. inspected progress of work under the centrally-sponsored BRGF scheme and a drinking water treatment plant at Bhaluk Khuniya village built under the centre's SRPP scheme. The minister then headed for Bhadutala forest in Salboni block where he spoke to workers at a forest department nursery who are employed under the NREGA scheme. He walked along a stretch of the road at Goyaldihi village in Salboni's Bormal gram panchayat and suggested initiating pisciculture projects in the ponds there. He called out to local village boy Koushik Pramanik, a Class-VIII student of Pirakata High School, and inquired about his studies. Ramesh inspected homes of two Lodha families built under the Indira Awas Yojana and visited a residential school run by an NGO where he asked students to sing the national anthem. He sang with them as well. At Lalgarh in Binpur I block, the condition of the road irked the minister who asked PWD officials to explain why it had so many craters just three years after being constructed. He told the officials not to waste central funds allocated for road construction. He also spoke to workers engaged in road construction at Chapitota village in Binpur II block and inquired whether they were being paid wages regularly. Ramesh, who is scheduled to meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday, said the Centre has so far allocated Rs 640 crore for road construction in West Midnapore and will increase the amount, if needed. Some 850 km of road length has been built under the Prime Minister's Grameen Smarak Yojana and another 600 km will be added, he said. (Times of India 20/11/11)

West Bengal: Naxals target ex-cadre's family as he joins TMC (12) Purulia: A former Naxal who abandoned the outfit to join the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal had to pay a heavy price. His father and brother were shot dead by Maoists, raising serious questions about security being provided to those who give up the gun. On November 14, 2011, 62-year old school teacher Ajit, and his 22-year old son Banku were dragged out of their homes and shot through their heads by Naxalites. Within hours joint forces tracked and killed two of the attackers. But it does not reduce Rajen Sardar's grief. He was the Naxalites' target, and narrowly escaped. His father and brother paid the price. The Naxals have targeted Rajen ever since he abandoned the Adivasi Moolvasi People's committee, a Maoist frontal group, and joined the Trinamool Congress. Rajen said, "Before he was killed my brother shouted out that he was sacrificing his life for me." In spite of the presence of the joint forces, the Naxals still operate freely in the area. Rajen's family still lives in fear. So much so, that they cremated Rajen's father and brother right next to the family home. Gopal, Rajen's Brother, said, "Before leaving, they threatened us that they will come back and kill the entire family." West Bengal Chief Minister's Mamata Banerjee's assurances for police protection for this family have failed to allay their constant fear of yet another Maoist backlash. The traumatised family contemplates to move out of the place once and for all. Aghor Hembram, once a dreaded Maoist, has been trying to bring young Maoist cadres back into the mainstream. But he too is aware that he and his family are possible Naxal targets. Aghor Hembram, Former Maoist Leader, said, "They have threatened me and my family many times. If they found me at home, I wouldn't have lived to talk to you." Mamata's attempts at truce with the Maoists are possibly at an end. As violence returns to the killing fields, families like Rajen Sardar's will be caught again in the crossfire. (CNN-IBN 23/11/11) Top Maoist leader Kishenji allegedly killed in W. B engal (12) Kolkata: Top Maoist leader Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji has reportedly been killed in a gun battle in the Burishol Forests of West Bengal's Purulia District. Unconfirmed reports further said that apart from Kishenji, four other ultras were also been killed in the gun battle that lasted for around 30 minutes. Home Ministry is yet to confirm Kishenji's killing. According to reports, a search is also on for another Maoist leader Suchitra Mahato. Despite strong measures initiated by the central government to crush the ultras, the Maoist insurgency has gripped nearly a third of the country, spreading into the interiors of 20 of India's 28 states. The guerrilla war, waged mostly from the forests of central and eastern India by ultras of the banned outfit, Communist Party of India-Maoist, is seen as the country's biggest internal security threat, say analysts. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier asked the specially appointed panel of interlocutors to continue their mediation with the Maoists ultras in the state, in a bid to resolve a long-standing issue that has turned into a political potboiler. A recent crackdown on rebel-dominated areas had raised hopes that the government was winning the battle against the Maoists whom Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as India's biggest internal security threat. However, the latest string of attacks by Maoist ultras, including repeated strikes and ambushes targeting security personnel deployed in insurgency-affected areas, has led to fears that security forces are ill prepared to deal with the threat. For the past few years, the rebels have stepped up their attacks against the government, targeting and damaging democratic and civil institutions of the nation, such as schools, medical centres and government property. Maoists have also significantly increased their presence in tribal and rural regions in affected states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa. (Mumbai Mirror 24/11/11) Kishenji cremated; Maoists call for 2-day nationwid e bandh (12) Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, November 27, 2011 : The Communist Party of India (Maoist) on Sunday called for a two-day Bharat bandh on December 4 and 5, 2011 in protest of the encounter of top Maoist

leader Malojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji who was cremated at his native near Karimnagar. Alleging that Kishenji was murdered in a fake encounter, Abhay, the spokesperson of the Moaist Central Committee released a letter which was read out by the revolutionary writer and Maoist sympathiser Varavara Rao at Peddapalli, the hometown of Kishenji. Kishenji was killed in a gunfight with security forces at the Burisole jungle in West Midnapore district of West Bengal on November 24. The top Maoist leader was cremated at his native Peddapalli, some 35 km from Karimnagar. His elder brother Anjaneyulu lit the funeral pyre. Earlier many villagers, political leaders, including ballad Singer Gaddar, Civil Liberties Committee leaders Mr. Varavara Rao, Kalyan Rao, Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLAs Etela Rajender, Koppula Eeshwar, MLC N. Laxman Rao were among those participated in the funeral procession. Kishenji’s body was brought to Peddapalli from Kolkata in the wee hours of Sunday and kept at his residence after the local police denied permission to his family members to keep the body for public viewing at the Junior College ground. (The Hindu 27/11/11) Naxal outfits active in Delhi, says Govt (12) New Delhi, Nov 29: Several Naxal outfits, including the banned CPI(Maoist), and their frontal organisations are active in Delhi, the Lok Sabha was informed today. In a written reply, Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh said, "The CPI (Maoist) operates in Delhi through the Delhi city committee of the outfit. Besides, the CPI (Maoist), several other Left Wing Extremist groups, including CPML-New Democracy as well as CPML-Liberation, are active in Delhi." Besides, front organisations of the CPI(Maoist) like Revolutionary Democratic Front, Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners, People's Democratic Front of India, Democratic Students Union and others are active in Delhi, he said. However, Mr Singh said no inputs are available to indicate that 'sleeper cells' of naxalites are functional in Delhi. "Delhi city committee and the front organisations of CPI(Maoist) are active in Delhi. Such activities are being closely monitored," he said. Mr Singh said in 2011, one CPI(Maoist) sympathiser of Chhattisgarh was arrested from Delhi for her alleged involvement in extortion of funds from Essar group in Chhattisgarh by the CPI(Maoist). Mr Singh said the CPI(Maoist) and its front organisations have been making efforts to develop ties with various North-East based anti-India insurgent outfits in pursuance of their strategy to mobilise various insurgent groups under a 'Strategic United Front' against the Indian state. (New Kerala 29/11/11) 18 more districts to be declared Maoists Hit: Rames h (12) Ranchi, Dec 3 : Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh today said 18 more districts spread across different states will be declared naxal-hit, taking the overall tally to 78. At present 60 districts spread across Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh had been declared maoist hit by the Centre. ''We are planning to declare another 18 districts Maoist-hit and from Jharkhand, Ranchi, Khunti and Giridih will be added,'' Mr Ramesh said at a press conference here. Already 14 districts of Jharkhand had been declared infested by the extremists. ''After touring 15 districts in the past three months, I have come to know that the situation in West Jharkhand and South Chhattisgarh is the worst,'' he said. Adding further the Minister said in the past 60 years more than three crore tribals had been displaced across different states in the name of execution of several projects. ''I have seen that many times tribals have been displaced again and again and in many projects Resettlement and Rehabilitation has not been completed,'' he said. ''I will not hesitate to accept that since gaining Independence, we have not able to properly execute our plans and policies for the welfare of the tribals,'' Mr Ramesh said adding no doubt the tribals were bound to be angry. Adding further, the Minister said, ''The Maoists do not have the 'monopoly on the concern of the tribals.'' ''They are extremists and making an excuse in the name of the tribals..if they really care about the welfare of tribals, they should have laid down their arms and joined the political mainstream,'' he said. (New Kerala 4/12/11) Maoists target tribal areas to further propaganda ( 12)

NEW DELHI: Maoists, who allege discrimination against tribal areas when it comes to development, have destroyed as many as 258 school buildings in the past six years in the Red Zone, with Chhattisgarh alone reporting more than half of the total destruction. Sharing the state-wise statistics of Maoists' targets of school buildings, the government has told Parliament that the ultras' acts has even drawn the attention of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) that had last year compiled an elaborate report on such incidents. The world body, in its report 'Education under Attack', has noted that the Maoists had not only destroyed schools but also recruited children in their ranks and trained them to use arms and explosives in their strongholds. Home ministry statistics shows that the Red ultras had destroyed 131 school buildings in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand (63), Bihar (46), Odisha (13), Maharashtra (4) and Andhra Pradesh (1) from 2006 to 2011. Stating that these attacks are a part of Maoist tactics to keep the local people illiterate and backward and out of reach of the development process, the home ministry said: "The Maoists highlight this situation as a propaganda tool to incite gullible population against the institution of the state in an attempt to implement their ideology of capture of state power through the barrel of guns." School buildings are, however, not the only targets of the ultras' big design to keep their areas of influence out of development process. The Maoists had during the same period also destroyed over 1,100 economic targets, including telephone towers, electricity transmission lines, power plants and mining and railway infrastructure. Security measures, taken in the past couple of years, have prevented such attacks during 2010-11, but it continues to be a matter of big concern for governments of all Maoist-hit states. As many as 71 school buildings were destroyed by the ultras in 2009 as compared to 39 last year. They have destroyed 21 such premises till November 15. Presence of security personnel in school buildings was once considered as one of the reasons of their being targets of Maoists. But, the statistics shows that the ultras had destroyed even those premises that had never been occupied by security personnel. (Times of India 4/12/11) Maoists attack Hariharganj Police Station in Palamu (12) Daltonganj, Dec 6 : Ultras of the proscribed CPI(Maoists) have attacked the Hariharganj police station, about 62 km from the district headquarters in Palamu. Police today said about 60 ultras attacked the police staion near National Highway 98 around 0100 hrs late last night. In retaliation, police fired around 100 rounds while the ultras shot about 250 rounds, sources said. Palamu Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Jha confirmed the incident, adding no casuality in the incident had been reported so far. Earlier, the naxals had blown up Hariharganj block office using can bombs and other explosives. (New Kerala 6/12/11) Ten members of ‘fake naxal' gang arrested (12) BERHAMPUR, December 9, 2011: Ten members of a criminal gang, who were involved in dacoities and extortion in the name of Maoists, were arrested in Malkangiri district on Thursday. Two other persons, one from Govindpalli in Malkangiri district and another from Jeypore in Koraput district, were also arrested on the charge of buying robbed valuables from the miscreants. The arrests coincided with the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Week observation. A country-made small arm, some swords and a few looted ornaments were seized from them. The arrested persons had also used the PLGA Week to extort money from traders. According to the Malkangiri police, members of the gang tried to extort Rs. 2 lakh from a trader of Korkunda by making threat calls in the name of Maoists. The gang members also allegedly looted the house of the trader posing themselves as naxalites last year. At the initiative of Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Aniruddh Singh, the source of threat phone calls were traced and it was found that the callers were dacoits and not Maoists, said R.K. Pati, inspector in-charge of Malkangiri police station. Initial interrogation has proved the gang members have been indulging in dacoities and extortions in the name of Maoists for the past two years. At least, six cases of dacoity were registered against them in Mathili, Orkel, and Malkangiri police stations. In 2009, they also attempted to loot the branch of State Bank of India (SBI) at Pangam. They broke into the bank but failed to open its secure

chests. During their bid, they made every attempt to make it look like the handiwork of Maoists. Menace of fake Maoists is not new to south Odisha. In November, a fake naxalite, Sanjay Kumar Das, who was trying to extort money from a trader was nabbed by the police in Malkangiri town. Four fake Maoists, who were extorting money from traders and politicians in the name of Maoists in Deobhog area of Chhattisgarh and Chandahandi block of Nabarangpur district, were arrested in Nabarangpur district in November. In August, two teenagers who were also involved in dacoity and extortion posing themselves as Maoists were nabbed in Kandhamal district. In June, a person, D. Tumbanath Subudhi, who was involved in criminal activity in the name of Maoists, was arrested in Ganjam district. (The Hindu 9/12/11) Maoists, Central forces engaged in a tug of war (12 ) MANOHARPUR (JHARKHAND), December 11, 2011: Along with the monsoon, the dense Saranda forest has been lashed by Operation Monsoon. The rain this season in these parts of the forest, which also form part of the first elephant sanctuary in the country, was fierce. And Operation Monsoon too seems to have had an unsettling impact on this Left-Wing Extremist-affected State. That was evident from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) strike in Latehar district a day after Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda stamped their political presence in the dense forest, from where the Eastern Regional Bureau of the CPI (Maoist) operated, last weekend. The CPI (Maoist) had retaliated similarly about a month ago when a team of officials from the Union Rural Development Ministry had visited the adjoining Kiriburu village, about 20 km from here. They triggered a blast close to the place the officials had visited the following day, though a Central Reserve Police Force camp was located nearby. However this time, they chose a distant place to register their protest and presence, but with greater fatalities claiming the lives of 11 persons, including 10 police personnel. The ambush, along with the two-day bandh covering the eastern States to protest against the killing of CPI(Maoist) Polit Bureau member Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji, could also be an attempt to divert attention and provide cover to his associate Suchitra, who according to officials, needed medical attention for injuries suffered during an encounter in neighbouring West Bengal's forests about 10 days ago. The CRPF codenamed the operation after the monsoon for the simple reason that rains are usually considered an impediment and would take unsuspecting Naxalites by surprise, relaxing as they do in these months, and not expecting such an offensive during the months of downpour. The operation was launched in the first week of August, and most of the top Maoist leaders left the haven within a fortnight, retreating in the hope of reclaiming it after the forces departed. Contrary to their expectations, the para-military forces have stayed put and busted seven camps so far. The CRPF lost three jawans and recovered bodies of two Naxalites in their first encounter. Since then, they have had to put up with 19 landmine blasts, which they successfully evaded. The forces recovered diaries from the camps, which were used for imparting training and scheming strategies. The tents were furnished with tables and benches, and capable of whipping up meal for almost 500 people in a matter of hours. The forces used their provisions while camping there and even recovered huge cache of money that belonged to CPI (Maoist) Prashanta Bose alias Kishanda, who is said to be a tribal from Jharkhand and one of the troika leading the underground organisation. The State police have acted on the diary and arrested several locals, but have not touched mine owners who have allegedly paid up to Rs. 50 lakh on a continuous basis to the CPI (Maoists) as it is not possible to act upon mere diary jottings. However, the police top brass say they are going to press for action on these jottings as well. The police are baffled over jottings claiming that some currency notes these companies gave the CPI (Maoist) were fake. The Maoists are also said to have links with other extremist outfits in the North-East, who impart training in lieu of money and arms that come from the Nepal-Bihar conduit. The United Liberation Front of Assam and Manipuri rebels are also said to have taken some Maoists to Myanmar for training. Only one Assamese has been arrested so far by the Odisha Police, while intelligence network is working on their presence in the State and trying to penetrate and cut off their international links too. (The Hindu 11/12/11)

SC asks CBI to file final report on top Maoist lead er killing (1) New Delhi | Agency: PTI: Observing that "conclusions do not support" the fake encounter theory, the Supreme Court today directed the CBI to file its final report by January 23, 2012, on the killing of top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar and a journalist by Andhra Pradesh Police in July last year. "One or two conclusions does not support the theory of the encounter being fake," a bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai observed, after briefly examining the current "status report" submitted by Additional Solicitor General Harin Rawal on behalf of the CBI. The bench made the observation after counsel Prashant Bhushan appearing for the deceased journalist's wife Bineta Pandey sought copies of the status report filed by the CBI. The apex court told Bhushan that once the CBI files its final report, his plea can be considered and he would be allowed "to render full assistance" to the court on the issue. On April 25, the apex court had asked the agency to try complete the investigation within three months. The case was transferred from the local police to the CBI in April 21 last year on the intervention of the Supreme Court. The state government had transferred the case to CBI after the apex court issued notice to it on January 14 on separate petitions filed by social activist Swami Agnivesh and Bineeta Pandey, wife of the deceased scribe Hemchandra Pandey, seeking a judicial probe into the incident. The bench had earlier expressed displeasure over the incident and remarked that "we cannot allow the republic killing its own children." Azad, a senior member of banned CPI (Maoist) Central Committee, and Pandey, who was dubbed by the police as a Maoist, were killed in an alleged fake encounter in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh on the intervening night of July 1-2, 2010. Seeking a judicial probe into the killings, the petitions alleged the post-mortem reports of both the persons and a fact-finding exercise carried out by rightsgroups clearly indicated that the encounter was not genuine. It was alleged Azad, 58, who carried a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head, and Pandey, 32, were shot dead from a very close range, which is evident from their post-mortem reports. (DNA 13/12/11) Maoists threaten 'feudal lord' Subhendu (12) KOLKATA: Last week, the Intelligence Bureau prepared a report suggesting Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikary featured on the Maoist hit list. On Thursday, Maoist leader Akash threatened that the Adhikary will be punished in the peoples' court. For past one month, the Tamluk MP has been in a bid to take on Maoists politically, which led him to hold series of meetings in different Maoist stronghold villages. In all his public meetings, Adhikary threatened the red guerrillas and on November 12 rally at Kurasole near Jhargram, he had said, "Either Maoists will have to lay down arms or they have to leave the state." In response to the threat, Maoists alleged that Trinamool Congress is masterminding hooliganism across the state to keep their domain. "Even they are not sparing their ally Congress," said Akash. Like the previous government, Trinamool is also trying to wrest power at gun point and creating an undemocratic and suffocating atmosphere in the state. Adhikary, who is considered as an old 'friend' of the Maoists since the Nadigram days in 2007, is now on the top Maoist enemy list in Jangalmahal. Maoists alleged that the anti-land acquisition movement that gave Trinamool a momentum against the Left Front government was organized by the Maoists. "He just betrayed with the people at Nandigram. His treachery helped CPM goons to return Nandigram through November 2007 operation," alleged Akash, who warned that people in Jangalmahal and Nandigram will not forgive him. Branding Subhendu as a feudal lord, the rebel leader said "We will continue our struggle. We don't fear jail and bullets." The rebel camp also alleged that Subhendu has been hiring the goons who once used to work for the CPM. "How long will you be able to terrorize people? They will drag you in their court. And then where will you escape?" quizzed the rebel. (Times of India 18/12/11) 'Save India, Wipe Out Naxals', Maoist victims appea l to Govt. (12) New Delhi, Dec 19 : Anguished over the continuing Naxal threats, scores of persons participated in an anti-Maoist rally for the second consecutive day at the Jantar Mantar here on Monday to demand fair compensation, rehabilitation, jobs and security from the government. Raising anti-Maoist slogans, the

protestors from the Naxal-affected states of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar spoke at length about the sufferings they and their family members had to undergo at the hands of the ultras. Holding posters with 'Save India, Wipe Out Naxals' written on it, the victims of Naxal violence also raised slogans like 'Naxal Bharat Choro'. The protestors urged the Centre as well as the respective state governments to render fair compensation, rehabilitation, jobs and security for those affected by Maoist atrocities. "My father was murdered (by Maoists) on January 5, 2009. My father used to help the police and formed a citizen security group with the police and that's why the Maoists killed him. We plead the government to grant us security, jobs and compensation," said Paneeta Kishtu, a resident of Jharkhand. Maoists fear that allowing construction of roads, bridges, culverts, schools and other state and central development programmes would enable the government to 'reach' poor tribals and villagers, who constitute a traditional support base of the ultras. Consequently, contractors are threatened or killed, schools are torched, electric poles are pulled down and construction projects, which could lead to development, are halted. Another anti-Maoist protestor recalled the death threat given to his family by the ultras. "On April 17, 2006, 30 Maoists broke into my house. I was absent then, but they asked my wife to arrange rupees 5,00,000 or else you will all be slaughtered. Under immense, fear we fled the village to take shelter in another village. We left all behind," said an extremely upset Birawar Pradhan. "We had six acres of land, which is being wasted there. We are facing a lot of difficulties. I have to now work as a labourer," he added. Meanwhile, Janata Dal United (JD-U) leader Sushil Singh highlighted the problems of the victims, who eventually fail to get compensation due to the diverse state policies. "There are thousands of victims and their family members, who have not received any compensation, members of their families are yet to get employment. The country is lacking a national policy to tackle this problem," said Singh. "Some state governments have made provisions in this area, while some others have opted to have zero provision. Sometimes there is selected assistance, where some people get compensation and others don't. There is a lot of anguish amongst people," he added. The JD-U leader advertised the formulation of a national policy by the Central Government devising a common clause for providing compensation to all victims affected by any Maoist or militant attack. "The Indian Government should introduce a national policy clearly stating the amount to be distributed as compensation to militant or Maoist attack victims and theirfamily members. They should prescribe clauses highlighting the compensation to victims, the relocation of victims, arranging employment," said Singh. "And when this national policy is formulated, all state government would be compelled to implement it, thus avoiding any trouble for the victims," he added. Congress lawmaker Pradeep Manjhi, who also attended the rally, stated that the Maoist infestation would take time to tackle and cannot be eliminated smoothly. "This (Maoists) is a very big problem. Maoists like militancy was once a loaded topic in India, but is now a big problem in India, considering the level of violence. We have been raising this issue and want to solve it through dialogue," said Manjhi. "But I don't think this issue will be resolved easily. We would have to take numerous steps in its direction. All states, the Central Government and the people would need to work together to find a solution. But I don't think it can be done easily," he added. The demonstrators, who urged the Centre to pay immediate attention to their needs and demands, had also organised an anti-Maoist rally at the same venue yesterday to press for their demands. The tussle for power by the Maoists has led to a virtual breakdown of state-machinery in the villages of insurgency-hit regions, with many locals reeling under abject poverty and violence. Maoists have of late significantly increased their presence in tribal and rural regions in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa, as well as the central state of Chhattisgarh. Stating that the Naxals are the worst violators of human rights, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had earlier said that the people at large need to understand that the rebels are involved in widespread cases of human rights violation. Despite strong initiatives taken by the Centre, the Maoist insurgency has gripped nearly one-third of the country, spreading into the interiors of 20 states of the country. (ANI) (New Kerala 19/12/11) 'Maoists looking east, taking Ulfa's help' (12)

GUWAHATI: Maoists are looking to regain their strength and expand their presence and this time they are looking east. The two-day DGP-IGP convention of northeastern states revealed that Maoist rebels have recently chosen the region for strengthening their movement and are trying to sneak into Assam with the help of some Ulfa cadres. The convention emphasized on restricting the recent activities of Maoist militants in the region and planned to prepare strategies to combat them. The convention, which took off on Monday, discussed the recent spurt in incidents of extortion, abduction and militancy in the region. "The Maoists are trying to increase their presence in the region. Many overground Ulfa cadres are acting as Maoist rebels in the state. Though they are not large in numbers yet, they're trying to gather strength in the border areas of Assam-Meghalaya, Assam-Nagaland and Assam-Arunachal Pradesh," said state police IGP (SB) Khagen Sarma. Regarding the training camps of these Maoists rebels, Sarma said, "Not all of them are trained. However, some are well-trained. According to intelligence sources, some Maoist cadres have been trained by Nagaland and Manipur-based militant outfits." Assam police DGP Shankar Baruah added the militant outfits of the region are getting arms from separatist groups of Myanmar through neighboring states. "The militant groups here are getting arms through the Myanmar-Mizoram and Myanmar-Nagaland routes. Manipur-based outfits have strong links with Maoists and are helping them create a base in the region as well," said Baruah. Baruah added the convention is going to prepare an action plan to combat cross-border terrorism. "Terrorism is no longer an inter-state problem. Rather, it has crossed the boundaries of states and even the borders of the country and become cross-border terrorism. This convention is a platform to exchange valuable information and to develop inter¬state coordination to combat terrorism in a united manner," said Baruah. Apart from the DGPs, additional DGPs and IGPs of all the northeastern states participated in the convention. On the other hand, West Bengal DGP N Mukherjee, NIA special DG Prakash Mishra and IB additional director R N Behura also attended the convention. State chief secretary Naba Kumar Das was also present in the convention. (Times of India 20/12/11)