Image Credit source: PTI
Militants have been able to increase their violent activities in recent years in tribal-dominated areas along the Madhya Pradesh border with Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. The increasing presence of Maoists in the area has forced the Madhya Pradesh government to deploy six companies of the Reserve Police Force here.
In Madhya Pradesh, as part of the biggest anti-Maoist-Maoist operation in three decades, the State Police’s Special Hawk Force killed three Maoists, including a woman commander, in a forest in Balaghat district on Monday morning. There was a total reward of Rs 57 lakh on all three and the police were looking for them in many states. The Maoists, who have been trying to make safe havens for themselves for many years in Balaghat and Mandla districts of Madhya Pradesh, have suffered a major setback by the police action. Under increasing pressure to leave their bases in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, around 300 militants have been successful in infiltrating these two districts of MP.
Maoists are shifting their cadre to Madhya Pradesh
Being a frequent victim of Chhattisgarh Police and anti-Naxal squads, they are strategically shifting their cadre to the dense forests of Kanha National Park and Bhoramdev Tiger Reserve. Both Kanha and Bhoramdev are connected through a dense forest on the Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border. Since the Kanha-Bhoramdeo region is more difficult to move from one place to another than the areas in South Bastar, the Maoists are using this to their advantage and re-strengthening their military wing by recruiting new cadres. The forest area of Kanha-Bhoramdev-Amarkantak is quite inaccessible and the police usually do not come here, so it has become a good hideout for them.
10 Maoists killed in five encounters in four years
The insurgents have been able to ramp up their violent activities in recent years, despite strict state police surveillance in the tribal-dominated areas along the Madhya Pradesh border with Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. The increasing presence of Maoists in the area has forced the Madhya Pradesh government to deploy six companies of the Reserve Police Force here. This is in addition to the already deployed CRPF battalion and the anti-Naxal wing Hawk-Force of MP Police.
MP Police has killed 10 Maoists including three women in five encounters in four years. However, Monday’s encounter is being considered the biggest success for the MP Police as the slain were self-styled area commanders tasked with expanding underground Maoist activities in Madhya Pradesh. The Hawk Force team of MP Police prepared to challenge the Maoists after receiving specific intelligence about the activities of the Maoists in the area. The encounter took place in the forest of Bahela, about 75 km from Balaghat district headquarters and less than 1 km from the Maharashtra border.
There was a total reward of Rs 57 lakh on the heads of the killed Naxalites.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra announced that Hawk Force had killed Nagesh, a member of the Maoist Divisional Committee, in an encounter carrying a reward of Rs 29 lakh. Swambhu Area Commander Manoj and Rame had a reward of Rs 14 lakh each on their heads. An AK47 is also included in the three firearms seized. This is the first time that AK47 has been recovered from Maoists in MP. Nagesh was a resident of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and was involved in several incidents of violence including Balaghat in three months. Manoj was from Bastar and Rame was from Sukma in Chhattisgarh. The encounter took place nearly three months after a forest worker of Maoists was killed near Kanha National Park in Balaghat district.
three incidents of red terror
On December 21 last year, 30 to 35 Maoists allegedly thrashed laborers engaged in road construction work in Balaghat district. He also forced the workers to set the machines on site on fire. Similar incidents aimed at disrupting road construction projects occurred in Korka and Bodaljhola areas of the district on December 3 and 6. Militants threw pamphlets calling for a bandh in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh on December 10 to protest the killing of insurgents in the Gadchiroli encounter. The pamphlet mentioned the killing of 26 Maoists, including prominent Maoist leader Milind alias Deepak Teltumbde (57), carrying a reward of Rs 50 lakh, in a police encounter in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district on November 13.
Madhya Pradesh- Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh region
The slain Commander Milind was assigned the task of expanding and strengthening the cadre in the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh region. Madhya Pradesh Naxal Operation IG Sajid Shapu said: “The Maoists are trying their best to restore their dominance and prove that Deepak’s death has not weakened them. But this is not true. We are doing everything to eliminate the Maoist menace from the state.”
Mandla and Dindori are also in the grip of militancy
Apart from Balaghat, Maoists have also registered their presence in Mandla and Dindori districts of Madhya Pradesh. Between 2018 and 2021, he was included in the list of districts affected by left-wing extremists. Over the years, the Maoists have shifted their focus to the areas of Kanha National Park and Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In 2016-17, the Maoists created the MMC zone, which is in the districts on the tri-junction of three states. They have also created two divisions in the zone, the Gondia-Rajnandgaon-Balaghat division and the Kanha-Bhoramdev division. The CPI (Maoist) has formed two divisions with Kanha-Bhoramdev (KB) under the MMC area.
presence of extension team
Earlier, he built the Gondia-Rajnandgaon-Balaghat (GRB) on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border areas to make himself a safe haven. The Kanha-Bhoramdeo division area also witnessed the presence of a Vistara Dalam (group) consisting of over 200 Maoists to accelerate their expansion and actively recruit new cadres.
Former close aides of Commander Deepak, who had surrendered earlier, have confirmed this in police interrogation. Monday’s encounter assumes significance as it thwarted the Maoists’ plan to fill the leadership vacancy caused by the killing of Deepak Teltumbde on November 13. On the same day, Maoists killed two villagers in Baihar police station area of Balaghat district on the suspicion that they were police informers in Malikedi village.
Why is Kanha important to Maoists?
One of the major reasons for developing MMC is the proximity of Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha to the forests of Amarkantak. It provides a safe place in the forest to the militants in these states. It is also a well connected corridor with Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Initially a small group of 40-50 rebels were sent under ‘Vistar Dalam’ to understand the area, its terrain and politics and public issues.
recent encounters
His attempt was foiled by the police on February 12 last year. Two suspected Maoists, including a woman, who had gone to recruit new members, were gunned down in Mandla district. According to the police, he was associated with Dareksa Dalam and Maljkhand Dalam. In addition, police say the two acted as field committee members and had a combined reward of Rs 28 lakh on their heads in three states – Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
In 2020, Balaghat police gunned down two women Maoists – Savitri alias Aayte (24) and Shobha (30) in an overnight operation. Another woman Maoist from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district was shot dead in Balaghat district on November 4. The slain Maoist Sharda was associated with Katiya-Mocha-Vistar-Dalam. He had a reward of three lakh rupees on his head.
Six groups operating in the area
According to officials, there are already 6 dalams (groups) working in Balaghat and Mandla districts. The KB division is also running the recruitment process at a rapid pace. Balaghat Superintendent of Police Abhishek Tiwari says that new Naxalites are being sent from southern areas to Balaghat and Mandla districts, due to which the number of militants has increased in Balaghat. In January 2021, more than 100 Maoists have reportedly entered tribal-dominated areas of Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh, but after this latest encounter, the insurgents are expected to be on the backfoot. Click here to read the news in English. (The author is a senior journalist, the views expressed in the article are the personal of the author.)
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