Indian press

Maoists kangaroo court, order sarpanch to pay workers under MGNREGA or resign

Bhopal: Naxals allegedly held a ‘kangaroo court’ in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh where a sarpanch was asked to ensure payment of wage arrears under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
This is after a long time that Naxal activity has come to light in Balaghat district, which is close to Rajandgaon district of Chhattisgarh and Gondia of Maharashtra, both of which have rebel presence.
“Twenty Naxals including six women held an unofficial court in Pandripani jungle near Rashimetta in south Baiher on the night of 4 April,” said former Lanji MLA Kishore Samrite. The villagers complained to the Naxals that they had not received wages for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for several months. The Naxals told the woman sarpanch’s husband to make sure that payments were made within 15 days. Otherwise the sarpanch should resign, they said.
“We have got inputs that rebels held a meeting, not a kangaroo court, on 4 April,” district superintendent of police Gaurav Tiwari told PTI on Wednesday.
Naxals now a days hold such meetings for 10-15 minutes before fleeing the area, he added, while denying a report in a Hindi daily that Naxals abducted some 15 sarpanchs from south Baiher and held a kangaroo court.
As per the police’s information, Naxals asked Kuwar Singh Dhurve, husband of Navhi village sarpanch Munni Bai, to ensure payment of wages for MNREGA works within 15 days, he said. Dhurve hadn’t lodged a complaint with police, the SP said, adding the police had taken a serious note of incident.
A person who accompanied Dhurve to Pathri market on 4 April told PTI that the sarpanch’s husband was indeed asked by Naxals to expedite payment to labourers in 15 days or resign. Balaghat collector Bharat Yadav also said a sarpanch had informed him about Naxals asking to ensure payment of MNREGA dues. “Problem of delay of payments under MNREGA is being faced by some other districts of MP and others states too. There is a shortage of fund. We are making efforts to clear the dues as soon as possible,” Yadav said.
http://www.firstpost.com/india/naxals-hold-kangaroo-court-order-sarpanch-to-pay-workers-under-mgnrega-or-resign-2716322.html?utm_source=FP_CAT_LATEST_NEWS

3 CoBRA jawans injured in Jharkhand blast

RANCHI: Three CoBRA jawans were injured when Maoists triggered an IED (improvised explosive device) blast on Thursday in a extremists dominated location atop Parasnath hills in Giridih district to target a contingent of security forces continuously chasing them in the hills for the last 48 hours.
ADG operations and police spokesperson S N Pradhan said jawans were hurt by splinters after the blast. “The injured were evacuated and given medical treatment. All of them are out of danger,” he said.
A source said jaw of one of the three jawans was badly hurt. They were brought to the foothills by another CoBRA team for medical treatment.
Believing that 25-odd Maoists led by CPI(Maoist) Jharkhand regional committee secretary Ajay Mahto and his aide Nunu Chand Mahto are holed up in Madhuban area of Parasnath hill, an anti-Maoist operation was mounted on Wednesday.
Parasnath is the highest mountain peak in Jharkhand. A Jain temple Shikharji, located on its top, makes it among the most sacred Jain pilgrimage sites.
Maoists exploit the topographical advantages of the hill which rests between Maoist-hit Dhanbad and Giridih and in the east of Bokaro district.
“The Maoists engaged security forces in an encounter on Wednesday. The intermittent firing is going on since then,” DIG Hazaribag Upendra Prasad told TOI.
ADG Pradhan said Maoists were possibly hit by bullets. “No dead body has been recovered so far,” he said.
Three CRPF companies from Dhanbad’s Topchachi and from Giridih’s Khokhra and Madhuban camps besides 10 teams from 203 CoBRA battalions are engaged in the ongoing combing and search operation.
The police claimed it has busted a Maoist camp and seized valuables. “The recovered items are packed in a tin-box enveloped in a plastic sheet,” Prasad said.
A bomb disposal squad was sent from Hazaribag to safely unlock the box, a police officer said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/3-CoBRA-jawans-injured-in-Jharkhand-blast/articleshow/51728867.cms

Two executed by Maoists after a Jan Adalat in Kanker District

Maoists kill three villagers in Chhattisgarh

Two villagers, who were abducted from a village in Kondagaon District, were allegedly killed by Maoists after holding a ‘Jan Adalat’ (kangaroo court), another was killed in Kanker District. “The victims, identified as Budhru and Manku, tribals from Kudur village under Mardapal police station limits, were brutally beaten to death,” Kondagaon Superintendent of Police (SP) JS Watti said. As per preliminary information, three villagers from Kudur area were abducted by Maoists on April 4, and two others picked up on April 5. Subsequently, the Maoists held a ‘Jan Adalat’ around 15 kilometres from Kudur in Tilam-Becha area, which falls in Narayanpur District, the SP said. “The Naxals [Left-Wing Extremists, LWEs] executed two villagers and released three,” he said. Becha area is said to be the strong base of the Maoists, which lies on the tri-junction of Bastar-Kondagaon-Narayanpur Districts around 400 kilometres away from Raipur.
Meanwhile, four Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) allegedly planted by Maoists to target Security Force (SF) personnel were recovered by SFs in Kanker District on April 6, reports The Hindu. A joint team of Border Security Force (BSF) and District Force recovered the explosives during a search operation in the forests of Bande Police Station area, Pakhanjore Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Jai Prakash Badhai said. While the SFs were cordoning-off Korenar village forests, they spotted an electric wire connection and subsequently found the IEDs, kept in different objects under the ground, Badhai said. “Two IEDs were kept in a pressure cooker and as many others were in form of pipe bombs. Of them, a pressure cooker bomb weighed 5 kg and others were of low intensity,” he said. According to a BSF official, the pipe bombs were connected to a wireless ‘walkie-talkie’ in a manner that if the wireless set receives a call, the bomb detonator catches the signal too and the IED explodes. The explosives were immediately destroyed by the bomb disposal squad of BSF and Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare (CTJW) college, Kanker.
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=4/7/2016&id=3#3

CRPF trooper injured in Maoist Landmine Blast in Visakhapatnam

VIASAKHAPATNAM: A CRPF trooper and a local tribesperson were injured in a landmine blast triggered by Maoist rebels in the forest near Dhooliputtu in Munchingput mandal of Visakhapatnam Agency area on Wednesday morning.They have been rushed to hospital in Paderu in a critical condition. If situation worsens, the police are making arrangements to shift the injured in Visakhapatnam. The blast took place when paramilitary forces were conducting a combing operation in forests on the Andhra-Odisha border.Reports from the loca area said there was a heavy exchange of fire between the paramilitary personnel and the Maoists after the blast. Police said details would be clear only after the firing stops.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/andhra_pradesh/Two-Persons-Injured-in-Maoist-Landmine-Blast-in-Visakhapatnam/2016/04/06/article3366414.ece

Maoist posters in Rayagada district

Bhubaneswar: In yet another such incident, Maoist posters were found in two villages near the Niyamgiri hill in Rayagada district on Wednesday morning.
The handwritten posters found in Barsali and Dengiteli villages have mentions of Maoists threatening to kill two Dongria youths of the area, Shyam Katraka and Shaym Shikka. The posters have mentioned that the two will be given death punishment for they are acting as police informers.
While Shyam Katraka belongs to Bandli village, Shyam Sikka is a resident of nearby village.
http://prameyanews7.com/en/apr2016/odisha/20028/Maoist-posters-threaten-to-kill-2-Dongria-youths-in-Rayagada-district-Maoist-postersRayagadaOdisha-Odisha.htm

Maoists Corner State Government with Dongria Kondh Issue

SAMBALPUR: Worried over largescale desertion and fast depleting cadres, the Maoists are desperate to strengthen their base and undertake largescale recruitment by resorting to their old arsenal of ‘psychological warfare’. The filing of an interlocutory application in the Supreme Court, seeking fresh ‘Palli Sabhas’ to reconsider mining of bauxite from Niyamgiri Hill through Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and the killing of Manda Kadraka by security forces during combing operation in an encounter in the Niyamgiri Hills on February 27, have come as a shot in the arm for the Maoist operating in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts. The fact that the security forces have acknowledged the presence of Sukhdev alias Bunty in the encounter, speaks about the motive of the Maoists. Continue reading →

Successful Maoist Bandh in Odisha

Maoist bandh disrupts life in Odisha’s Rayagada & Kalahandi
Normal life was paralysed in five blocks of Odisha’s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts today as Maoists called for a bandh protesting against an alleged fake encounter of a tribal youth. While vehicular traffic came to a standstill, most shops remained closed in Rayagada, Kalyansingpur, Bishamcuttack, Muniguda, and Lanjigarh blocks because of the bandh. Passengers were seen stranded in bus stops. Even though there have been no reports of violence so far, security forces have tightened patrolling to avoid any untoward incident.
Notably, CPI(Maoist) Niyamgiri Area Commitee Secretary Sukhdev on March 6 announced the bandh after the security forces killed Monda Kadrika in Dangamatia on February 27. “February 27 was the last day of the Adivasi Ghati festival in the Niyamgiri jungles. Police had killed Monda to create fear and panic among the tribals,” he had alleged. Monda’s brother also had filed a murder complaint against the security forces in Kalyansinghpur police station of Rayagarh on March 5. On the other hand, the security forces on February 27 had claimed that Monda Kadrika (20) was a suspected Maoist and was killed in an encounter led by Rayagada SP K Siva Subramani in the Dangamatia forests. Meanwhile, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) acting Chairman Justice BK Mishra, on March 4, directed the Southern RDC and the South-West Range DIG to inquire and report separately on the allegations within four weeks. The matter is likely to be heard on April 26.
http://odishasuntimes.com/2016/03/15/maoist-bandh-disrupts-life-in-odishas-rayagada-kalahandi/

53 executed by Maoists courts in 3 years

Fifty three people were executed by Maoists after ‘kangaroo courts’ found them ‘guilty’ in the five worst naxal-hit states of the country in the last three years. According to Home Ministry statistics, 18 people were killed following the directives of ‘kangaroo courts’ or ‘Jan Adalats’ in 2015 for being alleged police informers or “for not believing in Maoist ideology“. During 2015, 41 ‘Jan Adalats’ were held by naxal cadres in five Left Wing Extremism affected states —— Andhra Pradesh (1), Bihar (6), Chhattisgarh (14), Jharkhand (14) and Odisha (6).
Altogether 15 people were executed in 2014 following orders of 54 ‘Jan Adalats’ and 20 people were killed in 2013 under the directives of 63 ‘Jan Adalats’ “To create terror among civilians in the LWE affected areas, the Maoist cadres, in their ‘Kangaroo Courts’, also called ‘Jan Adalat’, or ‘Praja Courts’, execute sentence against the civilians, who do not subscribe to their ideology in the areas under their domain or labelling them as police informers,” a Home Ministry official said. In 2016, till February 15, two ‘Jan Adalats’ have been held in Chhattisgarh. Continue reading →

People’s War shakes Odisha

Suspected Maoists gun down former Sarpanch in Odisha
Koraput (Odisha), Mar 13 (PTI) Suspected Maoists gunned down a former Sarpanch of Tentuligumma panchayat under Boipariguda block in Odisha’s Koraput district today, a police officer said. The deceased has been identified as 38 year-old Gobardhan Bhumiyan of Tenguligumma under Boipariguda police station limits, the officer said. The incident took place near a forested road on NH-326 near Tanginiguda, situated at a distance of around 60 km from here when the former elected panchayat member was on way to his village on a motorcycle from Tanginiguda, the source said.
Though the modus operandi of the crime is similar to that of Maoists, no Naxal letter or poster was found near the body. Police is yet to confirm the involvement of Naxals behind the incident but they do not rule out Maoist role. “It could also be the fallout of some old enmity and the attackers might have tried to give a Maoist colour to divert police attention. Also, we can t rule out the involvement of Maoists. Details will be known once we complete our investigation,” the officer said.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/7214181_Suspected-Maoists-gun-down-former-Sarpanch-in-Odisha.html

Odisha police to intensify combing operations against Maoists
With Left-wing extremists (LWEs) extending their activities in the tribal-dominated Kalahandi district in the State, the Odisha Police on Saturday said it would intensify combing operation and also ensure development of certain areas. This was stated by Director General of Police K. B. Singh after reviewing the Maoist situation with Superintendents Police of Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bolangir and Nawarangpur districts here today. Among senior police officials Additional DG Arun Sarangi, Sunil Ray, Santosh Kumar Upadhaya, IG Intelligence D. S. Kute and DIG S. Saine also attended the review meeting.

Increased activities
Admitting that LWE activities have increased in Kalahandi and Nuapada region in the recent time, the DGP said steps are being taken to intensify combing operation and welfare activities as well in the Maoist-infested areas. Out of 13 blocks of Kalahandi, movement of Maoist cadres were witnessed in 10 blocks. However, the situation is acute in tribal pockets in Thuamul Rampur and Lanjigarh blocks, the DGP said claiming that the red radicals are gradually losing their hold over the areas due to intensified combing operation by CRP and SOG. “Maoist cadres are now defensive and desperate,” the DGP said.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/odisha-police-to-intensify-combing-operations-against-maoists/article8347310.ece

Cops fear Maoists’ comeback in Telangana

Hyderabad: With Maoists attempting to regain their foothold in Telangana, vigil has been stepped up in border districts of Khammam (Telangana-Chhattisgarh border) and Karimnagar (Telangana-Maharashtra border), especially after last week’s encounter. With a renewed strategy of Maoists moving in groups of around 20, police are not taking any chance. In the latest encounter, which took place a few kilometres away from Khammam in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh state, nearly 50 Maoists were holding a camp before an encounter with police in which eight Maoists were killed. In the last few years, Maoists were nearly wiped out from Telangana except for sporadic instances of a few naxals moving in the area. Continue reading →