Naxals/Maoists Watch

[Pintu]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/578412_Sanyal--the-last-of-the-surviving-Naxal-triad

Sanyal, the last of the surviving Naxal triad

STAFF WRITER 18:19 HRS IST

Kolkata, March 23 (PTI) Kanu Sanyal lit the fire of a violent revolution along with two other members of the Naxal triad out of a peasant uprising in West Bengal in the late 60s although in later years he shunned his own anarchist past.

As he battled senility, age and a blurring eyesight, the bachelor 78-year-old founding leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) abhorred violence unleashed by present day Maoists.

He was the last surviving member of the Naxalite triad that included another legendary revolutionary and comrade-in-arms Charu Majumdar and Jungle Santhal.

The three were behind the abortive Naxalite insurrection attempt by radical communist to initiate an "Indian revolution" by violent means.

Sanyal had even actively solicited help from the communist government in China to further his goals, but it could never be established whether this was moral, tactical or financial.

 

[Pintu]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/578101_CPI-M--condoles-death-of-Naxal-leader-Sanyal

CPI(M) condoles death of Naxal leader Sanyal

STAFF WRITER 17:6 HRS IST

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The CPI(M), which had earlier buried its political hatchet with Kanu Sanyal, today condoled the death of one of the founders of the Naxalite movement, terming it as "very unfortunate".

The party's Polit Bureau member, Sitaram Yechury, said Sanyal had been critical of the line adopted by Maoists for quite some time.

"His death is very unfortunate. Off late, particularly after Nandigram and Lalgarh, he has been saying that the line adopted by Maoists do not conform to the revolutionary understanding (which was adopted) at the time when they had started the Naxalite movement" in late 1960s, Yechury said.

Sanyal, along with Charu Mazumdar and Jangal Santhal had launched a militant peasant movement from the Naxalbari village in the same district in 1969 after splitting from the CPI(M) and forming the CPI(ML).

 

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...eered-clear-of-dogmas/articleshow/5717797.cms

Naxalite icon Sanyal steered clear of dogmas
Subodh Varma, TNN, Mar 24, 2010, 04.27am IST

Almost 43 years ago, on 25 May 1967, police opened fire on protesting peasants in an obscure north Bengal village called Naxalbari. The 1967 protest was led by three men — Charu Mazumdar, Jungle Santhal and Kanu Sanyal. They were to become legends for a short time, leaders of the Naxalite movement, known in their current avatar as Maoists.

Mazumdar died in police custody in 1972. Santhal spent about a decade in jail, became an alcoholic on his release and died in 1981. Only the diminutive Kanu Sanyal survived. After spending seven years in jail he meandered through various forms of left politics, operating from his village near Naxalbari. Disillusioned and depressed, he reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday, by hanging himself in his home. He was 82.

Charu Mazumdar, the fiery ideologue of the Naxalites, in a rally in Kolkatas maidan in 1969, introduced Sanyal as the man behind the actual mobilization of sharecroppers in the north Bengal area. It was in this rally that Sanyal announced the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), better known as the Naxalites.

Their objective was leading a revolution in India by overthrowing the feudal order through a protracted peoples war. Such was the pull of this romanticized vision that dozens of middle class intellectuals signed up. The event became international news when the Chinese Communist Party in an editorial in its main paper heralded it as "spring thunder breaking over India."

The police cracked down on this violent movement immediately and all three went underground. Within a short but bloody span of three years, all three were behind bars. The rudderless Naxalites started disintegrating into over 40 groups, bitterly fighting with each other.

Sanyal was ultimately released in 1977, at the initiative of Jyoti Basu, chief minister of the first Left Front government. He publicly renounced the Charu Mazumdar line of individual annihilation of class enemies and floated a new left group called the Organising Committee of Communist Revolutionaries.

This went through the usual course of merging and splitting off from other Naxalite organizations right till his death. He allied with the Left Front for a phase in the 1990s but soon became disillusioned. Since 2003, Sanyal had been working as general secretary of a new version of CPI(ML).

In recent years he had protested against the Singur land acquisition for Tata's Nano plant. He also espoused local causes in 2006, he was arrested while trying to stop the Guwahati Rajdhani in protest against the closure of tea gardens.

Recent documents of his party reveal that there was open criticism of Sanyal for remaining confined to his area and taking up local causes, neglecting national duties. But, perhaps, that was his forte — and his nemesis. He was an organizer and motivator of people, he was loyal to a nebulous notion of the revolution but he never developed a political vision that could give shape to a great organization.

Unlike many ultra-left elements he was not dogmatic. He abandoned his close associate Charu Mazumdar's
incendiary line early on and throughout his life attempted to hammer out some workable strategy for his dream of a revolution. But that was not to be — these dreams remained forever deferred and forced Sanyal to a lonely death.

 

[Dark_Prince]

90 Maoists killed during Operation Green Hunt in C’garh

90 Maoists killed during Operation Green Hunt in C’garh


Raipur: More than 90 Maoist militants were killed and 12 terror camps dismantled during the government's anti-Maoist Operation Green Hunt, Chhattisgarh Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar said on Thursday.

"As many as 90 Maoists were killed and 12 of their terror camps were destroyed till Feb 27 this year in the state's Bastar region under Operation Green Hunt," the minister told the assembly during question hour.

The minister did not mention the date when the operation was launched in the state and also skipped a question from his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) colleague Devjibhai Patel about how many policemen were killed during the sweeping crackdown on the ultras.

When Patel pressed for a number, the minister said: "I'm sure they (policemen) are just a few... situation in the state is far better now compared to the earlier situation when policemen were getting killed without inflicting many casualties to the enemies."

Officials here say that Operation Green Hunt was launched in the state in September-October in 2009 and the majority of the 12 terror camps were destroyed during the operation. The terror camps were in the forested areas of Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada districts of Bastar, spread over an area of 40,000 sq km

 

[nandu]

Maoist top gun from Jadavpur University falls to cops

JHARGRAM: Top Maoist squad leader Bikram alias Abhisek Mukherjee — a former Jadavpur University student—was blown to bits along with three other rebels in an encounter with crack COBRA commandos in Hathilot forest of Jangalmahal’s Lakhanpur on Thursday night.

His senior comrade, field commander Bikash, who has been overseeing the expansion of Maoist base in Jangalmahal, was seriously injured in his first ever encounter with the forces in the forests spread over 48sq-km.

Sources said Bikash was bleeding profusely when guerrilla squads dragged him deep into the forests close to Lalgarh. Gunbattles are still on in the jungle as over 1,500 joint forces personnel tighten the noose around some more senior Maoist leaders, including Chhatradhar Mahato’s brother Sasadhar.

Sasadhar’s security aide Antony was injured along with 10 others in the group, say sources. Police claim at least six Maoists have been killed.

The body of Sambhu Mahato — a Maoist squad leader in charge of Goaltore — was found in Bhalukbhasa jungle. At least 22 villagers have been rounded up in Maoist-dominated Salboni and Kalsibhanga areas for interrogation.

The Maoists were tracked by forces early Thursday morning. The encounter has been on for over 32 hours now. Maoist defector Marshal Gurucharan Kisku, the husband of Jagori Baskey (who led the Silda attack) and once a close Kishanji aide, is said to be with the forces.

Bikram (28), a third year dropout of JU’s international relations department, was Kishanji’s voice in rebel announcements and would introduce himself in broken Bengali as ‘I’m Bikram, Kishanji’s friend’.

A resident of Chandannagore in Hooghly, Bikram was the one who announced the recent 72-day truce offer. Bikram’s death has sent ripples in Jadavpur University.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[johnee]

There seems to be a lot of action going on in the background and the scarce reporting in the media seems to be delibrate tactic of Govt. So, can we expect that the maoists would be wiped out before the next term of elections?

 

[RAM]

Police suspect Kishanji is injured in gun battle

Maoist Polit Bureau member Kishanji is suspected to have been seriously injured during the seven-hour-long gun-battle between security forces and the rebels at Lakhanpur forest in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district on Thursday. He is believed to be undergoing treatment at a secret location in the district by local quacks.

The police also suspect that the rebels suffered heavy casualties during the exchange of fire and are pegging the casualty figure at around 10, although none of the bodies could be recovered on Friday.

Though West Bengal Director-General of Police Bhupinder Singh declined to comment on whether Kishanji was injured, he said: “It is suspected that several of those rebels injured in the firing have succumbed to their injuries.” There was also a report that a student of the city-based Jadavpur University was one of the Maoists killed in the exchange of fire, but Mr. Singh said there was no confirmation on the matter.

Mr. Singh had said on Thursday that there was a possibility that “an important Maoist leader” was present at the site of the gunfight.

A senior district police official, however, told The Hindu on Friday that based on inputs from several channels, including the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Intelligence Branch of Andhra Pradesh, it is suspected that Kishanji might have “suffered serious bullet injuries if not killed.”

“At around 6 p.m. on Thursday, we received an input from Andhra Pradesh's State Intelligence Bureau that Kishanji has either died or is badly injured. Immediately afterwards, the Maoists started firing more heavily than the earlier hours and tried to move away from the area. The rebels usually use this tactic to shift the bodies of their slain comrades so that the police cannot recover them,” the official said.

He added that villagers informed the police they saw Maoists carrying several bodies towards the Mathurapur forest.Meanwhile, the security forces carried out intense combing operations in areas where they suspected Maoists to be hiding.


http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article306620.ece

 

[nandu]

Maoists kill Congress leader in Jharkhand

Ranchi: Maoist guerrillas shot dead a Congress leader in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district to protest the Green Hunt operation in the state, police said Wednesday.

Gobardhan Mahali was killed late Tuesday, a fortnight after the operation was launched. The Green Hunt operation is a central-government aided campaign to flush out the rebels from the Maoist-affected states.

Mahali was the Congress president of Dhalbhumgarh block in East Singhbhum district, around 190 km from here. He lived in Maacchbhandhar village.

"Around 25 rebels of CPI-Maoist (Communist Party of India-Maoist) raided Mahali's house and took him towards the jungle area at gun point. The Maoists then pumped in three bullets in his head," a police officer said.

Mahali is the first political leader to be killed after the launch of the Green Hunt operation a fortnight ago. CPI-Maoist had earlier threatened to kill Congress leaders if the operation continued.

"Maoist rebels seem to be desperate after the large-scale offensive was launched against them. The killing of Mahali is the outcome of their desperation," said another police officer involved in the anti-Maoist operation.

http://www.zeenews.com/news615405.html

 

[Rage]

I'm lovin' this more every day...


Top brass behind bars, rifts hit Maoists

Apr 2, 2010, 01.15am IST


NEW DELHI: The Maoists seem to be facing a leadership crisis due to differences at the top.

Though the arrest of six out of 14 politburo members of CPI (Maoist) in the past three years had already made a heavy dent, recent reports indicating differences between chief Ganapathi and senior leader Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji appear to have made ripples down to the lower cadre.

Security agencies recently seized a number of documents, including correspondence between Ganapathi and Kishenji, showing that the differences had turned into ‘suspicion’ between them over their individual security.

“The documents show that there are clear differences at the top over methodologies of operations. It, in fact, corroborated what Kishenji’s right-hand man Telugu Deepak told his police interrogators in West Bengal,” said a senior security official. Deepak alias Venkateswara Reddy, a West Bengal state committee member, was arrested by the state police on March 2, 2010.

Besides stating how top leaders were not sure about each other’s actions amid facing heat from the security forces across Naxal-infested states, Deepak told cops how even the movements of politburo members had, of late, been compromised.

Referring to the seized documents, the officials said the differences had occurred over the way Kishenji and his comrades in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar were associating themselves with the Lalgarh resistance, as against Ganapathi’s idea of taking on security forces simultaneously in different states.

CPI (Maoist) — which came into existence after the merger of the People’s War Group (PWG), active in certain districts of
Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, with the West Bengal-Bihar-Jharkhand centred Maoist and Communist Centre (MCC) in 2004 — is now facing pulls from different sides.

While one group led by Kishenji wants to dominate Lalgarh, considering it the centre of their resistance, the other, led by Ganapathi, feel the West Bengal unit is excessively obsessed with local politics. Though both Kishenji and Ganapathi were with the PWG in Andhra Pradesh, security agencies found that the former now seems to be more interested in the affairs of the northern parts having its nerve centre in West Bengal and Jharkhand.

The MCC and PWG groups within the CPI (Maoist) also differ on their methods of operation. Differences had cropped up in the wake of the beheading of Jharkhand police inspector Francis Indwaar last year. While erstwhile MCC leaders had justified such action, ex-PWG cadres objected to the killing. Besides, erstwhile PWG members are finding it tough to deal with MCC leaders, who are divided themselves on caste lines.

“The security forces are now trying to use these differences as an opportunity to break the cadre,” a security official said.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ars-rifts-hit-Maoists/articleshow/5752423.cms

 

[nandu]

New Army Chief rules out deploying forces against Maoists

New Delhi: Newly-appointed Army Chief General VK Singh has ruled out using the Army against Naxals, saying they are not secessionists.

“The Naxalite problem is a law and order problem, which is a state subject. It stems from certain issues on the ground, be it of governance, be it of administration, be it of socio-economic factors. Since it is not a secessionist movement, I think our polity is astute and wise enough to know the implications of using the Army against their own people,” General Singh was reported as saying on Friday.

His remarks came in response to a question as to whether the Army should be deployed in anti-Naxal operations.

“We (the Army) are there to assist the state (police) forces and, at the moment, it is in terms of training,” Singh said.

General Singh’s remarks followed IAF chief PV Naik’s assertion that the armed forces ‘by and large’ seek to stay away from internal security duties.

"It's a job which the police and paramilitary have to do,'' he said on Tuesday after taking over as the new chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

"If the scale (of the Maoist rebellion) becomes so big that the police and paramilitary are unable to handle it, then only will the government decide if the armed forces are to be involved,'' he added.

http://www.zeenews.com/news616198.htm

 

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-police-bus-in-Orissa/articleshow/5759634.cms

10 security personnel killed as Maoists blow up police bus in Orissa
IANS, Apr 4, 2010, 02.30pm IST

BHUBANESWAR: At least 10 security personnel were on Sunday killed and three injured when Maoist guerrillas blew up a police bus in Orissa's Koraput district, an official said.

The rebels detonated a landmine about 14 km from Baipariguda town when a large number of the state's Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel were going in three vehicles, Deputy Inspector General of Police Sanjeeb Panda said.

"One of the buses was blasted by the Maoists. The vehicle was completely damaged. At least 10 security personnel are confirmed dead. The number of deaths may go up," Panda said.

At least three people were injured in the ghastly attack.

Maoists are active in more than half of the state's 30 districts. Koraput district, about 500 km from here, is considered their stronghold.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

76 security men killed by Naxals in Chhattisgarh.

A patrol party of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was on its way back from a three-day operation when it found itself totally ambushed.

From a hilltop in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, about 300 Naxals opened fire at the CRPF group of 73 men. Police officials confirm 70 of those men have died.

"We have rushed helicopters to evacuate the casualties," Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Viswa Ranjan told PTI. The incident took place in dense forest and the search and relief operations are being hampered.

Expressing shock over the attack, Home Minister P Chidambaram said something went drastically wrong.

"They seem to have walked into a camp or trap set by Naxalites...casualties are very high and I'm deeply shocked...but this shows you the savage nature of the CPM Maoists," said Chidambaram.

The attack took place at 6 am on Tuesday morning. The Naxals blew up a car being used by the CRPF. They then fired at the patrol party from all directions. This patrol party had been camping in the interiors of Tarmetla jungles looking for Naxal camps.

The CRPF jawans were taken aback, but fired back.

The police confirms that by 11.30 am, the encounter had ended, and that its personnel were looking for dead bodies.

Dantewada has long been home turf for Naxals in Chattisgarh. The dense forest area is full of landmines.

The Naxal attack is seen as retaliation against the government's Operation Greenhunt- launched in Orissa and Chhattisgarh to clear Naxals.

Today's attack comes two days after Maoists triggered a landmine blast killing 11 security personnel and injuring several others in Orissa's Koraput district.


What happened:

A company of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) with at least a hundred men was returning on Tuesday morning from a combing operation in the Chhattisgarh jungles.

The jawans were ambushed by 300 Naxals positioned on hill tops and hidden behind trees in the area's thick forests.

Landmines were blasted to stop the CRPF's vehicles; then the Naxals opened fire.

The CRPF jawans were taken by surprise, but fired back.

Helicopters are being rushed to the area to bring out injured jawans.

Dense jungles are hampering relief operations. (WITH PTI INPUTS)

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/20-security-men-killed-by-naxals-in-chhattisgarh-19293.php

 

[ajtr]

with CRPF and other police forces taking these many causalities at regular basis i think center will soon deploy army to fight maoist.Nothing works without army in india.

 

[Solid Beast]

You need armour, you need gunships, you need army special forces. Why is GoI pussyfooting with these buggers? Squash them and let's move on please. I can't believe policemen are being used for jungle warfare against hardened animals. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

RIP to the fallen.

 

[ajtr]

SB,
I dont think indian govt. ever used or will dare to gunships or heavy artillery firepower on its own people. Indian govt rely on COIN even at the cost of mounting armed force casualties.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

Well there is something dramatically wrong some where and people incharge on the whole are completely clueless as to what is happening on ground. It is stunning, 100s of these naxals get together, and each time there are absolutely no intelligence inputs and all these attacks come as a surprise, which puts a huge question mark as to what is the state police doing in these states because they are supposed to be the first and the best contact point between security personnel and the populace at large.

These sustained attacks were very much on the cards post PC did the chest thumping in lalgarh and still such a lethargic attitude and if I am not mistaken this is either the 3rd or the 4th attack since PC made that visit. Where is the state machinery and what is the substance in the big talk that PC keeps doing?

Just by planting news in the media wont help and certainly wont help win this war, which is nothing more that a propaganda being fed by the state. We need to accept these people are terrorists, better organized than ever and more united than before and seriously there is no point is stating crap like they are divided, something no on ground security official is ready to accept other than our politicians, time the country was stopped being fed this false crap!

At least the Pakistanis are better than us, they alteast know they need to eliminate the ttp, we here are still debating with our socalled intellectuals/civil society defending these naxals. High time the GoI and the state governments got serious about what they intend to do, and seriously if this is what we get as a result of stationing more than 30,000 odd security personnel exclusively to fight these naxals then only god knows this country is to the terrorist attacks originating from Pakistan.

Enough of public posturing and media bites, its time to act and as Pakistan has done, take action which speaks louder than the cheap talk that is being done.

Absolutely enraging!

 

[Dark_Prince]

Man I am sick and tired of Congress and its dilly-dally in countering Maoist , its a known fact that congress has created and used separatists to their advantage be it Khalistanis or Ltte. Chidambram was busy minting money as Finance Ministe,r now this good for nothing traitor is shedding crocodile tears and doing nothing, as Congress would require Maoist man power in West Bengal elections!! Why are Maoists not seen in AP now days? This Congress is the main cause of this naxal problem!

 

[Solid Beast]

Well armour you can also define as moving around in protected vehicles, I am not sure how insurmountable the landscape is there but you can't just keep sending in small groups of men on foot just to get slaughtered. Gunships these days are pinpoint accurate, collateral damage can be minimized with the use of precision weapons through the use of better surveillance if possible. COIN ops done through the hand of police will fail every time. Either GoI should get serious or let these guys declare victory. You must agree Ajtr that the heat must be turned on.

PS - Those who use armed force against the state can no longer be defined as your fellow citizens. Draw them out and when they feel confident and destroy them, smash their supply chains and ammo dumps, get informants on the ground, capture or kill the leadership, try to isolate their cause by drawing the people away from it, this is the essence of COIN. Sending in poorly equipped police (not to mention a reserve force) on a ghost hunting expedition is suicide.

 

[Solid Beast]

Sending in poorly equipped police (not to mention a reserve force) on a ghost hunting expedition is suicide.

In fact it is bloody criminal negligence.

 

[bhramos]

Using Gunships could be best option, but sending army is not best option, present 75 policed died, and yet the number may raise, but now they are sending two choppers for rescue operations, and two Mi-17 of troops were also being rushed.