EXTREMIST groups have turned isolated pockets in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal into veritable war zones. The People's War Group (PWG), also known as People's War (P.W.) in Bihar after it merged with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Party Unity, has extended its operations from Andhra Pradesh to Orissa. The Maoist Coordination Centre (MCC) has shifted its area of operation from Bihar to the newly formed Jharkhand State, while the P.W. has launched attacks in the tribal belt in Medinipur district of West Bengal.
The spurt in extremist violence in Orissa may be part of the PWG's plan to increase its strike rate. Coming in quick succession, the attacks could also be the PWG's way of celebrating the first anniversary of the formation of the People's Guerilla Army last December. In the first major strike of its kind, a group of naxalites on December 2 blew up the Poteru police outpost and then bombed the house of Arabinda Dhali, Minister for Textiles, Handloom and Cooperation, at Poteru village in Malkangiri district near the Andhra Pradesh border. Reports say that the police presence at Poteru has been insignificant.
According to the police, reports about 50 extremists armed with AK-47 rifles swooped down on the police outpost around 9 p.m. and demanded that the office-in-charge, Gopinath Sethi, hand over all weapons. They ordered Sethi and two constables on duty to vacate the outpost before they blew it up with bombs. They then crossed the Poteru river and proceeded towards Dhali's farmhouse. There they told Dhali's wife, son and nephew to vacate the house and then destroyed the building by detonating dynamite. The Minister was not present at the time of the attack. Dhali, a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Malkangiri, was on the naxalites' hit list. He has been given Z category security status.
Before fleeing Poteru, the extremists dropped leaflets which said that the attacks had been conducted to avenge the police operation against PWG activists in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and the exploitation of the tribal population. "We attacked Dhali's house as he was instrumental in the deployment of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Malkangiri to subdue our struggle against the oppression of the poor tribal people," it said. The PWG's provincial secretary, Jampanna, claimed responsibility for the attack and said that more strikes were planned for December.
Orissa's Director-General of Police, N.C. Padhi, told Frontline that the attacks were "symbolic" as the PWG declared the border districts of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh a war zone. On December 1, PWG extremists triggered a landmine explosion on the Kutru-Bedre road and fired at two police stations in the tribal-dominated Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh. The PWG has a strong presence in two other districts of Chhattisgarh - Bastar and Kanker.
While the left-wing ultras have managed to lay their hands on sophisticated weapons, successive attacks on police stations in Orissa have confirmed that the protectors of the law are ill-equipped to counter extremist threats. The organised attacks could not have taken place without some local support. As in Andhra Pradesh, they feed on rural discontent. Orissa has in the recent past experienced a series of natural calamities, ranging from cyclones to droughts, and there are persistent complaints of neglect of the tribal belt.
The biggest ever naxalite attack in the State took place on August 10 when a group of about 100 extremists killed five policemen and injured 22 in simultaneous attacks on Kalimela and Motu police stations in Malkangiri district. Two P.W. commanders were killed when the police returned fire.
To combat the increasing naxalite menace, the Naveen Patnaik government recently asked the Centre to accord Orissa special category status, and submitted an action plan of Rs.350 crores. State Chief Secretary D.P. Bagchi met Union Home Ministry officials to highlight the nature and extent of the naxalite problem, the measures needed to be adopted to counter it, and the reasons why the State should be granted special status. Bagchi said that if proper steps were not taken soon, the problem could well become as acute as it is in Andhra Pradesh. The State also sought special assistance for the upgradation of police stations and the deployment of more paramilitary forces.
The MCC attack on November 1 on the block office at Topchanchi in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand, which left 13 State Armed Forces jawans dead and five seriously injured, could not have taken place at a worse time. Much to the discomfiture of the BJP Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, the incident took place just before the first foundation day of the State on November 15. The MCC guerillas, who now call themselves Lalkhandis, apparently wanted to take advantage of the heightened media attention on the State. Over 150 extremists attacked the block office, which had a picket of State Armed Forces, and robbed 14 self-loaded rifles and three carbines before disappearing into the nearby forest. The incident was a planned one as it was the village market day. A group of women and young boys, all members of the attacking party, guarded the main entrance of the market on the National Highway. They carried bombs. Five extremists were killed in the shootout.
On November 12, two Rashtriya Janata Dal activists who were earlier members of the Krantikar Kisan Samity (KKS), a MCC front organisation, were gunned down at Makaiatand village in Latehar district of Jharkhand. (The KKS collects 'levy' from farmers and businessmen on behalf of the MCC.) The same day, the extremists blew up railway lines between Karkata and Untari stations in Palaumu district. Simultaneously, they blew up four trucks, a bus and a jeep on the Daltongunj-Aurangabad road.
Jharkhand, formerly south Bihar, is rich in terms of mineral resources and industrial infrastructure compared to its parent State. North and central Bihar are considered hotbeds of MCC activity. The Jharkhand region was relatively less vulnerable to naxalite threats until it was granted statehood. The creation of Jharkhand seems to have helped the MCC deepen its roots in the region as the potential for extortion from contractors, traders and industrial units is greater in the new State.
For the past few months, West Bengal has also been subjected to naxalite violence, particularly in the tribal district of Medinipur on the Orissa border. The incidents took place in the forested areas of Jhargram, Shalboni, Garbeta and Binpur blocks. The MCC-PWG combine has been primarily targeting members of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist). On November 28, naxalites shot dead 57-year-old Sudhir Singha Sardar, a CPI(M) local committee secretary, at Bhimarjun village in Jhargram subdivision.
Intelligence reports say that naxalites from Orissa and Bihar have set up bases in Medinipur and Burdwan districts. The naxalite movement, which originated in West Bengal in the late 1960s, disappeared from the State after the Left Front government came to power in 1977. However, the re-emergence of the extremist force is proving to be a matter of grave concern for the State government. The CPI(M) leadership has put the party's workers and leaders in Medinipur on alert following intelligence reports in the wake of Sardar's murder that at least six key party functionaries were on the hit list of naxalites. A large police contingent has been deployed in Jhargram.
Most of the areas under naxalite influence in Medinipur are inhabited by poor tribal people. "The naxalite leaders lure them with food or money. If the living conditions of these people are improved, they will not join hands with any extremist force," a police official said.
Realising this fact, the Left Front government has evolved a development package for Medinipur and Burdwan districts.
COMMents
COMMents
SHARE