Maoists regroup in Junglemahal

19 October 2011

Rebels take advantage of relaxed joint operation, recruit youths
biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 19 OCT: Taking advantage of apparent under-utilisation of security forces in Junglemahal since the Trinamul Congress-led government took charge, Maoists are back in control over vast areas of forest land in West Midnapore.
Sources close to the CPI-Maoist say they have been able to regroup at least 17 squads in West Midnapore district alone in the past two months. At least 10 youths from each village in remote areas of Junglemahal have already been recruited in the squads and they are being trained by senior leaders at various undisclosed places.
A group of 25 rebels from Orissa, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, who are trained for carrying out guerrilla warfare, has visited the training camps in Junglemahal. They have reportedly stored a huge cache of arms and sophisticated land mines ahead of the recent one-month "conditional ceasefire" announcement.
At a meeting of the central committee in Saranda forest in Jharkhand in August, the rebels have decided to set up four guerrilla bases in Junglemahal in the next two years.
More importantly, the Maoists have plans to “restart” attacks on security forces “with increased frequency and more telling effect”. The rebels might choose soft targets like vulnerable police stations, camps of state armed police, political and government appointees and even the CRPF, a senior police officer warned.
Concerned about Maoist activities, the Central government has already warned the state government that Maoists are regrouping and inducting local youth in areas in Junglemahal. Even, some Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers have already urged the state government to begin joint operations as their area domination has weakened considerably due to lack of decisiveness of state forces over assisting them in operations, thereby allowing Maoists to regroup in the area. The state government has, however, not paid heed to the request of CRPF to begin joint operations immediately and chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee has given a seven-day deadline to the Maoists for initiating talks in her rally at Jhargram recently.
Police said they were told that Bikash, a Maoist leader, and his 30 squad members, had taken shelter in different jungles, including Kenkakhali, Dumurdiha, Pingboni, and Metala in the Goaltore police station area. Acting on a tip-off, security forces raided the jungles, but failed to nab the rebels. Security agencies have reported that Maoists are planning to form a “tactical united front” with other left-wing extremists. They have also said that at least two Maoist Politburo members, including Kishanji alias Koteshwar Rao, have been hiding in the Saranda forest in Jharkhand. These two members are monitoring the activities in West Bengal, security agencies warned.
In West Midnapore, a team of 22 Maoists, led by Bikash, has already started providing arms training to local youths. There have been reports that Maoists are forming “village defence squads” in many areas, and extortion notices have been served to businessmen and CPI-M workers, a Central Intelligence report suggests.

Rebels call bandh in 3 dists on 22 Oct
statesman news service
MIDNAPORE/KOLKATA, 19 OCT: Maoists have called a bandh in three districts of Junglemahal on 22 October, a day after chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee's seven-day deadline to the rebels for laying down arms and coming to the negotiating table for talks ends. 
In a release today, state secretary of CPI-Maoist Akash has asked people to observe the bandh to protest against the suspension of seven jawans of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), recent incident of rape of a tribal housewife by the security forces at Sonamukhi village in Belpahari and atrocities on tribal people by the Trinamul Congress-backed goons.
The Maoist leader, in the release, has also criticised Miss Banerjee for dubbing the Maoists as “supari killers” and “jungle mafia” during her speech at a rally in Jhargram on 15 October.  Three days ago, Maoists had snubbed Miss Banerjee’s ultimatum and demanded immediate withdrawal of security forces and release of jailed Maoists by putting up posters at various places in Salboni. 
Today, the rebels set several other demands before the state government which include immediate release of water through Kanshabati barrage for irrigation and supply of seeds and fertilisers for the farmers.
“The chief minister has declared many developmental projects for tribals here, but she never talked about the farmers. If water is released from the Kanshabati river, then farmers will be benefited. So, we are demanding immediate release of water from Kanshabati and if this is not happened, we will launch movement soon,” said Akash.
The release came at that time when Union finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee has assured Miss Banerjee of all kinds of assistance for handling the Maoist menace.. 
Meanwhile, Union rural development secretary Mr PK Sinha paid a visit to Junglemahal to take stock of Centre-sponsored development schemes in the region. His visit is significant as the Union home ministry is planning to back the rural development ministry’s multi-pronged action plan to tackle Maoists through comprehensive development activities in Junglemahal.