Incidents involving Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) 2012

Andhra Pradesh

January 5: DGP V. Dinesh Reddy said heavy security cover would be provided to facilitate expeditious completion of various road works taken up under the IAP for the areas affected by CPI-Maoist.

January 7: Around 50 Maoists belonging to the Korukonda Dalam and their sympathisers of the CPI-Maoist blasted the Forest Department Office and check-post at Lothugedda in Vishakhapatnam District to make their presence felt in the region. The Maoists have demanded that the APFDC hand over the coffee plantations to tribals and wanted lifting of cases against tribals of Balapalam village. They appealed to the tribals to oppose bauxite mining in the Agency.

January 11: The cadres of the CPI-Maoist pasted posters at Chowdupalli in Chintapalli mandal of Visakhapatnam District demanding the people's representatives to pass a resolution against mining of bauxite in the Agency. The posters appeared as the officials and the Police were preparing to receive Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy at G.K. Veedhi mandal to call on Tribal Welfare Minister P. Balaraju, whose mother passed away four days ago. The Maoists also warned the informers to mend their ways.

January 13: A former Maoist female cadre, Veeramalla Pushpa (35), was found dead at her residence in Ramanthapur in Hyderabad under the Uppal Police limits. Pushpa's husband Ganesh Babu, who was said to be a Maoist sympathiser, had been killed around three years ago. Pushpa was an accused in the case and investigators believe her murder now could be connected to her husband's death.

January 17: Nune Narasimha Reddy alias Ganganna, a key CPI-Maoist leader and State Committee member, was reportedly arrested by special party Police teams at Old Guntur. Ganganna, who has been in judicial remand for the last one-and-a-half years in the District jail, was released on January 17.

January 19: The Centre sanctioned INR 1.8 billion for six more Districts in Andhra Pradesh under the IAP for selected tribal and backward Districts to cope with the Maoist menace. The member-secretary of the Planning Commission, Sudha Pillai, in a message to the chief secretary informed that Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Warangal, Karimnagar, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram have been included under the IAP with INR 1.80 billion (INR 300 million per District ) to be released for the year 2011-12.

January 27: The honeymoon between the CPI-Maoist and TRS party has come to an end with the failure of month long general strike by Telangana employees headed by K. Chandrashekhar Rao and Prof. Kodhandaram. TDP has alleged that they have pledged the Telangana agitation to the Union Government to bag Polavaram tenders. The North Telangana wing CPI-Maoist leader Jagan has heavily comes down on KCR and Prof. Kodhandaram for the same reasons.

February 1: Seendri Bathro alias Badri (35), from Kannavaram under Mampa Police Station in Koyyuru mandal of Visakhapatnam District was found killed with his neck strangulated. A letter left at the spot reportedly by some CPI-Maoist cadres said he was killed for being a 'police informer'.

February 5: An UAV or drone is likely to be pressed into service in the Visakhapatnam and other border Districts of Andhra Pradesh to help in intelligence gathering on a real-time basis.

A magisterial inquiry will be held on February 13 at 11 a.m. in Nalgonda District mandal revenue office into the death of an unidentified CPI-Maoist cadre following an exchange of fire with Police at Narayanpur village on January 17, 1998.

February 9: The recent surrender of 15-year-old tribal, Kursinge Divya alias Bharatakka, a CPI-Maoist cadre in Adilabad District has made anti-Maoist SF's suspicious of Maoists activating 'sleepers' in order to build an alternative communication network. According to sources, the Maoists used to stage cultural programmes with revolutionary overtones in ashram schools located in remote villages in the Mangi forests. Apparently, the aim was to mentally prepare tribal children to join the underground stream when required to do so in future.

Tension gripped the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border following the reported death of three SF personnel in a land-mine blast allegedly triggered off by CPI-Maoist cadres in the Polampalli forest area of Dantewada District in Chhattisgarh.

February 12: Four CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested by the Charla Police near Timmirigudem village in Khammam District during patrolling. According to Police, the arrested Maoists - Madivi Lakma, Vetti Adama, Kovasi Inga, and Podium Joga- all in the age group of 20 to 25 years, were residents of Yerrampadu, a tribal hamlet of the Gutti Koyas tribe. They were involved in the burning of a hydraulic excavator near Gisarelli village.

February 15: The Nizamabad Police (rural) arrested a fake Maoist, Eligeti Ravi Prakash, who demanded money from a businessman, G. Subash Reddy.

February 18: Three hydraulic excavators allegedly set ablaze by a group of cadres of the CPI-Maoist at Modingedda in GK Veedhi mandal in Visakhapatnam District. The Maoists left posters saying that any move to start bauxite mining would result in such reaction from the CPI-Maoist and that the Government must immediately stop the Green Hunt Operation against Maoists.

CPI-Maoist cadres triggered a blast at the coffee-seeds godown of the APFDC at Lankapaakala village in G.K Veedhi Mandal of Visakhapatnam District, demanding distribution of its coffee plantations to the Girijans.

Contradicting the claims of the Central Government which blames the loss of forest cover to the CPI-Maoist, the Andhra Pradesh forest department says that the loss of forest cover is due to encroachments.

February 20: A dalam 'commander' of the CPI-Maoist, Sutari Papa Rao (42) alias Singanna, was killed in an exchange of fire with a Police party near Sayannapalli village in Gundala mandal of Khammam District. It was initially believed that two Maoist cadres were killed, but Police later said that only one Maoist died in the encounter. Sources said a Police constable was also injured. Police recovered live ammunition and INR 19,000 from the scene of encounter.

In a renewed bid to flush out Maoists from the AOB, the Government is hurrying with the setting up of paramilitary and Special Forces bases in north coastal Districts. BSF is already setting up a base in Srikakulam with IRB having selected Anandapuram in Viskhapatnam for its camp. Now, the CRPF is planning to set up a regional base at Vizianagaram district's Kottavalasa mandal.

March 1: The G. K. Veedhi Police arrested a CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Pangi Gopala Rao of Kampumanipaakalu in Visakhapatnam District. A member of the Korukonda dalam of the CPI-Maoist, he was reportedly picked up by the Police during a combing operation recently and was kept in the G.K. Veedhi Police Station.

The State Government is likely to increase the reward to between INR 100,000 and INR 2.5 million. The State Police have proposed INR 2.5 million as reward for the capture or surrender of high-ranking central committee members such as Ganapati and Mallojula Venugopal. The proposal is awaiting the Government's approval.

March 10: A joint combing operation, codenamed 'Sarvanash', begun on March 7 by CRPF, Jamui and Banka Police against CPI-Maoists in the border area of the two Districts ended with the arrest of Babulal Yadav, a Maoist and the prime accused in the killing of Prayag Yadav, a former head of Chilkari Panchayat in Banka in March 2010.

March 11: Ravi Kumar (22), an engineering student from Ranchi was injured by a stray bullet when alleged CPI-Maoist cadres opened fire at Habbipur village under Rajpur Police Station in Rohtas District. Rajesh Sharma, an active member of the now disbanded MCC, had land dispute with a fellow villager, Lalan Singh which was intervened by Rajpur block pramukh Rajendra Singh. About six members of an armed squad of the Maoists attacked the relatives of Rajendra Singh while they were on their way to the local market where Ravi, who had gone to the market to buy vegetables, was hit by a stray bullet which was fired by the Maoists. Police seized 15 cartridges of .315 bore and an empty cartridge during a search at Rajesh's house.

March 12: G K Veedhi Police in Visakhapatnam District arrested a cadre of Galikonda area committee of CPI-Maoist, Gemmeli Balaraju, at G Addaraveedhi. Balaraju of Boddamanupakalu was involved in the two murder cases - killing of Majji Madhava Rao, a forest ranger, at Lankapakalu and Pangi Das, a Police informer, at GK Veedhi.

The Maoists has issued a warning to an IAS officer for 'discriminating against tribals'. Maoist east division 'secretary' Ganesh warned in a news release in Paderu in Visakhapatnam District that the people would teach a lesson to Paderu sub-collector Kartikeya Misra if he did not mend his arrogant ways.

March 14: A Naxal belonging to CPI-ML-New Democracy, identified as Gujjula Karunakar Reddy (23) alias Bharath, surrendered before the Police in the presence of Circle Inspector V Suresh at Gudur mandal in Warangal District. Bharath hails from Nalgonda District and worked with Suryam dalam and Soma Bhaskar dalam.

March 16: Two civilians were injured in the crossfire between a Police team and the CPI-Maoist cadres in of Allubaka and Thippapuram forest area in Khammam District. The exchange of fire took place when a Police team combing the forest areas came under fire from Maoists at around 2 AM to 2:30 AM, which was retaliated by the Police team.

The Maoists set ablaze equipment in the BSNL telephone exchange at G. Madugula in Viskhapatnam District late in the evening. A group of five Maoists of the Korukonda area committee entered the exchange and poured petrol on the panel board and other equipment and set them on fire.

March 18: A CPI-Maoist leader, Tupakula Ramanjaneyamma alias Santhi, a leader of the AOB carrying a head money of INR 500,000, was arrested near Kondramutla village in Ipur mandal in Guntur District.

March 20: A LWE, Grandhi Vikanna, was shot at by his comrades over a dispute on sharing of booty in the forests near Nagarjunasagar reservoir in Guntur District. He was rushed to nearby Government hospital in a serious condition.

March 21: CPI-Maoist cadres blew up a culvert in GK Veedhi mandal in Visakhapatnam District, protesting against the Government's move to permit bauxite mining in the Agency. Around 50 Maoists stopped an APSRTC bus going to Chintapalli from Narsipatnam at the culvert and after taking away mobile phones from the passengers blew up the culvert. They allowed the passengers to leave after distributing pamphlets urging locals to continue their fight against bauxite mining and to chase away Ras Al Khaima Company.

Another group of Maoists felled trees near Lothugedda junction and placed them across the road in Visakha Agency in the District. The Maoists put up many banners on the road demanding the Central and State Tribal Welfare Ministers, who represent the Agency, to come out with a clear statement that bauxite mining would not be taken up in the Agency.

March 22: A CPI-Maoist 'commander' of Indervelli dalam in Adilabad, Gundarapu Kistakka alias Lalitha, surrendered herself to the District Police.

March 24: The nation-wide bandh called by the CPI-Maoist evoked good response in Visakhapatnam District while response was mixed in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam Districts.

March 28: The Police arrested two CPI-Maoist cadres, identified as Gollari Kondababu of Gadapari village and Lake Mohana Rao of Nallabilli, from an unspecified place under GK Veedhi mandal in Visakhapatnam District.

March 31: Guntur Police arrested the CPI-ML-Janashakti 'state secretary' Subhash alias Narayanalingam Tyagaraju alias Prakash in Guntur District. Police also arrested three of his associates and recovered four 12 bore SSB guns, a country-made pistol, 20 SLR live rounds and four thapanchas from their possession.

75 CPI-Maoist cadres belonging to the Korukonda Area Committee of the CPI-Maoist surrendered before the Police in Visakhapatnam District.

April 4: The Gurazala Police arrested three LWEs, identified as Mohan alias Prakash, Jathavatu Krishna Naik and Challa Ramalingeswara Rao, belonging to the CPI-ML-Janashakti, from a place in Karampudi mandal in Guntur District. The Police recovered a tapancha and a live cartridge from their possession.

April 10: Nakka Vijay alias Jeevan (29), a top cadre of the CPI-ML-Janashakti of Odisha surrendered before the Karimnagar District Police in Karimnagar on April 10 along with four weapons, ammunition and INR 311, 000 in cash. Jeevan, a native of Baddenapalli village of Sircilla mandal in Karimnagar District, joined the party in 2004.

April 16: Seeking to highlight the efficacy of the policies pursued by the Congress Government since 2004 to end the problem of LWE, Chief Minister, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy claimed that the number of CPI-Maoist cadres in the State had dwindled to mere 150 from 1,100 eight years ago.

April 18: Cadres of the Venkatapuram area committee of the CPI-Maoist allegedly killed one U. Guravaiah (23), branding him a Police informer, near Pedamidisileru village in Charla mandal of Khammam District.

April 19: Police in Neelampalli village of Mahadevpur mandal in Karimnagar District arrested two CPI-Maoist cadres during a regular vehicle checking. The arrestees were identified as V. Shekhar (30) and K. Shyamsundar (27), a former deputy dalam ‘commander’ and now working as active militant and native of Bhoorgudem.

April 23: Three Naxalites, including two belonging to the CPI-Maoist, surrendered in Warangal District. The surrendered Maoist cadres include ‘deputy commander’ of Sironcha dalam (South Gadchiroli division of Maharashtra), Pasham Swaroopa (22), and Agaboina Sambaiah (24), member of Singanna dalam that operates in Narasampet and Kothaguda areas. The third member, Gosula Raju, belongs to CPI-ML-New Democracy had been underground since 2009. He worked with the Suryam dalam in Kothaguda area.

All the 32 detained Adivasis of Chhattisgarh were produced before the executive magistrate in Kusumanchi mandal in Khammam District by the local Police and later let off. Kusumanchi Police took the 32 Adivasis, including seven women and five girls, into preventive custody while they were travelling in a bus from Bhadrachalam to Hyderabad to participate in the RDF meeting on April 22.

April 26: A constable of SIB of Andhra Police, Pangi Appanna, was shot dead by CPI-Maoist cadres at Paderu in Visakhapatnam District. Reportedly, the Maoists had also made an attempt on his life four years ago.

April 29: Normal life was partially hit in Vizianagaram District the first day of two-day bandh, April 29-30, called by the Korukonda area committee of the CPI-Maoist in the AOBSZC area. The committee had given a call for the bandh demanding suspension of the Operation Green Hunt.

April 30: The CPI-Maoist has ‘blamed’ SIB Head Constable K. Appanna, who was shot dead at Paderu on April 26 for converting Girijan youths into informers with inducement of money and undermining the revolution.

May 2: Some CPI-Maoist cadres reportedly destroyed country-made liquor and warned tribal people against brewing illicit liquor at the weekly shandy at Busiputtu village of Pedabayalu mandal in Visakhapatnam.

May 5: A CPI -Maoist leader, Gadi Rambabu, ‘deputy commander’ of Peddapalli Area Committee was arrested from the outskirts of Chinnaboyanpalli village in Eturunagaram area of Warangal District, Additional Senior Superintendent of Police (ASSP) Senthil Kumar said. 20 rounds of ammunition were also seized from his possession. He was carrying an award of INR 50,000 on his head and was also allegedly involved in the killing of AP Rayons Factory Deputy Manager Ramakrishna in May 2011, Police said.

Bihar

January 2: Three top CPI-Maoist cadres were killed and another got injured in an encounter with STF personnel assisted by CoBRA near Matiyaon village under Chutia Police Station in Rohtas District. The recovered dead bodies of the slain Maoists were identified as ‘area commander’ Kashi Kaul (28) of Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Guddu Singh alias Prasadji (30) of Chandauli District in UP and Santosh Yadav (28) of Garhwa District in Jharkhand. The injured Maoist, identified as Sushil Choudhury, a resident of Madhukutia village under the Nauhatta Police Station area in Rohtas District, was arrested during the encounter. Police recovered one SLR, one looted Police rifle, one automatic semi-rifle, one 315 bore rifle, one walkie-talkie, several detonators and live cartridges from the encounter site.

January 5: A CPI-Maoist cadre, suspected to have been involved in a massacre in 2010, was arrested from Kathaura village in Munger District. SP P Kannan said Sanjay Yadav was arrested during an anti-Maoist operation in the village under Dharhara Police Station. Yadav was believed to be having been involved in a massacre of five tribals at Karaili in the District in 2010, he added.

January 6: Three CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested during search operations in Gaya District. Acting on a tip-off, a Police team assisted by the STF of Bihar Police raided three places in the District and arrested the Maoists and recovered five drums (500 quintals) explosives, besides three country-made pistols and cash worth INR 475, 000 from their possession, City SP Satyavir Singh said. The Police started combing operation in the area and raids were being conducted in some areas of the adjoining areas in Jehanabad District, Singh added.

January 7: Four CPI-Maoist cadres, including two women, were arrested from Sheohar District. Acting on a tip-off, the Police raided Sultanpur village and arrested the four Maoists, SP Natasha Guria said. The Police recovered two country-made pistols and eleven live cartridges from them, the SP said. Those arrested were involved in several Maoist operations in the District during the past four years, the SP said.

Shyam Nandan Sharma alias Lota Singh, a ‘zonal secretary’ of the CPI-Maoist was arrested in Begusarai District. SP Chhatranil Singh said acting on a tip-off, the Police raided a place and arrested Sharma, near Bagha rail outpost. The Police recovered some explosives and a landmine along with a mobile phone from him.

A top Maoist, identified as Kashi Chaudhary, was arrested from Suarwa Manava village in Rohtas District, Superintendent of Police, Manu Maharaj said. Acting on a tip-off, the Police raided the area and arrested Kashi, SP Maharaj said. Chaudhary was wanted in connection with several Maoist operations, he said. The Police recovered a stolen Police rifle and 40 cartridges from him.

January 9: Armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist raided the camp office of a road construction firm and set ablaze four vehicles on national highway no.77 in Sitamarhi District. DSP Alok Kumar said, the Maoists after the operation pasted a pamphlet asking the private firm to stop construction of the road. A combing operation was launched in the area to arrest the Maoists.

January 10: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadres abducted three labourers of a private construction company after setting ablaze five earthmoving machines at two places in Sitamarhi District. The Police said about 25 armed cadres raided the construction site of Rajendra Singh and Brothers Construction (Private) Ltd Company at Maniari on Sitamarhi-Riga Road around 10.30pm [local time] and held the labourers captive. The Maoists also fired in the air and hurled bombs to terrorise the residents, who could not muster courage to challenge them. The Maoists later escaped from the area abducting three labourers. They also left pamphlets demanding money from the owner of the company.

Another group of Maoists attacked the camp office of the same company at Kataujha under Runnisaidpur Police Station. The Maoists assaulted the company's driver, Sitaram, and set ablaze a JCB machine. They threatened the proprietor of the firm with dire consequences if he did not fulfil their extortion demand.

January 11: The Police officers gathered at the hilly range under the Maoist-hit Tilauthu Police Station area in Rohtas District to hold a first-of-its-kind review meeting to check the Maoist menace. SHOs, Inspectors and Deputy DSPs had assembled to chalk out strategies to curb Maoist activities in the District.

January 13: An alert has been sounded in Sonepur Railway Division of ECR in the wake of intelligence reports, that the CPI-Maoist might target railway stations on Republic Day. According to intelligence inputs received by the RPF in Samastipur, Maoists might target railway stations on Republic Day, particularly Karpoorigram railway station under Sonepur division in Samastipur District. The RPF had received threats from 'sub-zonal commander' Kamleshwari Thakur alias Ranjit, 'area commander' Rakesh alias Bihari and Women squad 'commander' Shila, the sources said.

January 17: Around 100 armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist blew up one mobile tower in Sanda village under the Kutumba Police Station in Aurangabad District. The Maoists also assaulted Radhe Singh, the guard, before leaving the spot. The Maoists then moved to Sonarkhap village, around 1.5 kilometres from Sanda village, and set ablaze another mobile tower. Later, they left the place shouting anti-government slogans. The incidents happened during the 24-hour bandh call given by the Maoists in protest against the killing of their cadres in an encounter on January 2 with the Police in Rohtas District, sources said.

January 18: The Police official said a Maoist identified as Dinesh Pandit was arrested from Chiraiya village in Sheohar District. Acting on a tip off, the Police raided and arrested Pandit and recovered a semi-automatic pistol from him. SP, Natasha Guriya said the Maoist was suspected to be involved in several criminal activities in Sheohar and Sitamarhi Districts.

The Maoists have put a village headman under house arrest and locked up another’s residence in the Gaya District amid a bandh call in protest against the killing of Maoist leader Sushil alias Naresh Bhuian by Police in Rohtas District on December 27. Darogi Singh Bhokta, the mukhiya of Chakarbandha panchayat, cannot come out of his house, while Mahuri mukhiya Manoj Paswan cannot enter his house for the past couple of days. Both the panchayats fall under Dumaria block in Sherghati sub-division of Gaya District. According to sources, Bhokta and Paswan have faced the Maoists’ wrath for defying their diktat not to contest the panchayat elections in the Dumaria block in May and June in 2011.

January 20: Six Maoists were arrested from two villages under Minapur Police Station in Muzaffarpur District after a group of 15 Maoists tried to kill a Police informant in Belahi-Lachchi village. Three Maoists, identified as Vijay Paswan, Mahesh Patel and Roshan Kumar, were caught by villagers and handed over to the Police in the early hours. Three others were arrested from a nearby village. SSP Rajesh Kumar said the Police also recovered a pistol, a crude bomb, seven cartridges and four cell phones from their possession. Around 6pm, three more Maoists from the group, identified as Mohammed Ishraful, Prabhu Sahni and Munna Rai were arrested during a raid at Feni Chhapra village also under Minapur Police Station, about 7 kilometres from Belahi-Lachchi. Eight pistols, a gun, an AK-47 rifle and 300 rounds of cartridge were recovered from them.

January 21: The Bihar Police neutralised six CPI-Maoist bunkers and recovered about one quintal of explosives and detonators at Harpetta village under the Nauhatta Police Station during a combing operation code named ‘Operation Vishwas’ in Kaimur Hills in Rohtas District. The operation was carried out by a joint team of the CRPF’s CoBRA battalion troopers, the State Armed Police and District Policemen. Rohtas SP Manu Maharaj said the SFs came across the six bunkers at the village which were immediately destroyed. A search, thereafter, led to the recovery of a large cache of ammunition comprising 80 detonators, 12 powerful can bombs and a huge quantity of explosives, besides Maoist uniforms.

The Police arrested five criminals including a Maoist ‘area commander’ identified as Chandan Kumar at Ramlakh village under the Natawar Police Station, in the District. The Police said the arrests were made following a tip off that some criminals moving around in a suspicious manner near Ramlakh village to commit a major crime. A special Police team was immediately formed and rushed to the village to foil the plan. The Police team recovered one carbine, one rifle, two pistols and a dozen live cartridges.

Arms licence was issued to 61 tribal people for self defence against Maoists in Rohtas District. "They were issued arms licence to instill confidence and enable them to defend themselves in the event of being attacked by Maoists," DM Anupam Kumar said. SP Manu Maharaj told the tribal people against the misuse of the guns else the licences will be cancelled. More than 500 tribal people left their villages in Rohtas, Nauhatta and Chenari blocks and took shelter at a base camp at Chenari after a series of attacks in July last year in Kaimur forest range. Now they have returned to their villages so arms licence were issued after thorough assessment of the threats from Maoists, the sources said.

Spiritual leader Sri Ravishankar appealed to the Maoists to renounce violence and join the mainstream for their own well being and that of the society. "There can be no solution to problems through violence ... an atmosphere of peace and brotherhood can indeed help change the society for the better," he said at a discourse at Madanpur village in Aurangabad District.

January 24: A Police official was injured in an encounter with the CPI-Maoist cadres at Maigara village in Gaya District. Dinesh Mahto, the SHO of Roshanganj Police Station, while heading an operation against the CPI-Maoist received a bullet injury in his thigh. Earlier, the CoBRA battalion, the STF and the local Police received a tip off about the movement of about 200 Maoists in the area and launched the operation.

January 25: The SFs neutralised a bunker and recovered a cache explosives and other materials from a CPI-Maoist hide-out after an encounter in Sugarmanwa forest in Rohtas District. Acting on information, SFs launched a combing operation against a group of armed Maoists hiding in Sugarmanwa forest where a brief encounter took place, the SP Manu Maharaj said. After forcing the Maoists to retreat, the SFs neutralised a bunker and recovered a cache of cane bombs, detonators, Maoists literature and Police dresses from the forest.

January 29: Three CPI-Maoist cadres wanted in connection with several incidents of Maoist violence and criminal cases were arrested from Rohtas, Sheohar and Munger Districts. Maoists 'area commander', identified as Arvind Ram alias Kaushalji was arrested by the Police from Chutia village in Rohtas District, SP Manu Maharaj said. Ram, a native of Navadih village, was said to be the 'area commander' of Tilouthu-Nauhatta region of the Maoist-infested District, Maharaj said.

Maoist 'area commander' Sunil Raut was arrested from Bashi Jagdishpur village in Sheohar District, SP Natash Gudia said, adding a country-made pistol and two live ammunitions were recovered from his possession. Raut was wanted in connection with several cases of Maoist violence in Sheohar, East Champaran and Sitamarhi District, SP Natash Gudia added.

Maoist cadre Anil Manjhi was arrested from Bhangalwa village in Munger District, DSP, Jamalpur, Ranjan Kumar said. Manjhi was wanted in connection with several cases of Maoist violence including, the DSP said.

February 4: The Rohtas Police arrested a Maoist cadre, identified as Babulal Yadav, belonging to Babhantalao village under Nauhatta Police Station area, and recovered three can bombs meant for ambushing Police vehicles from him in Taradih village of the Kaimur Hills in Rohtas District.

The Police detected and seized standing opium crops on a 10-acre plot in Hasadi village under the Nauhatta Police Station area in the Kaimur Hills in the District during a combing operation.

February 5: The beheaded body of a villager, identified as Md Jabbar (45), who was abducted by the CPI-Maoist cadres a week ago, was recovered from Garhi More in Jamui District. On January 30, the villager had been abducted and two others killed by armed Maoists at Milantaand village in the District.

The STF arrested Dhudhnath Yadav alias Birin, a 'sub-zonal commander' of the Barabar Committee of the CPI-Maoist, near Shahpur under Shahpur Police Station in Patna District.

February 6: A joint team of Bihar Police and CRPF raided a CPI-Maoist training camp in Bheem Bandh forest in Jamui District and neutralised two bunkers. Several Maoist literature and some daily use items were seized during the operation, the Police said adding the Maoists, however, managed to escape.

February 7: The Police arrested four CPI-Maoist cadres, involved in the abduction of a businessman Vijay Nayak, when he was returning from Konch area on February 01, in Gaya District. The arrested Maoists are identified as Raja Yadav, Taniklal Yadav, Budhan Yadav and Katlu Sav who are involved in Maoist related activities like weapon loot and abductions.

February 7-8: In a massive joint combing operation in Jamui Hills area, the CRPF, STF and DAP personnel neutralised three CPI-Maoist bunkers, recovered nearly two tonnes of explosives and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from Narkol village and adjoining areas under Barhat Police Station in Jamui District. DIG, CRPF, Umesh Kumar said though Maoist had left the area after coming to know of Police advancing towards their hideout, 13 rifles, 500 detonators, hundreds of Improvised Explosive Devices, 13 magazines of INSAS rifles, ladies garments, 700 woollen blankets, over 100 plastic sheets used for making makeshift homes, a large number of condoms, Sintex water tank, sewing machine, beer bottles, utensils and ration were recovered by the Force.

February 9: Acting on a tip-off, the Police raided Khejuri village and arrested Satyendra Das alias Vidhyak, a self-styled 'area commander' of the CPI-Maoist in Gaya District. Vidhyak was wanted in the 2005 Jehanabad jail break, and in connection with several Maoist operations carried out in Jehanabad, Aurangabad and Gaya Districts.

February 21: The CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead a cadre of the TPC, a splinter group of CPI-Maoist, at Baratetrai village under Nabinagar block of Aurangabad District. The slain TPC cadre was identified as Anil Ram. Police said Ram belonged to Rambigha village under the Japla Police Station in Jharkhand.

February 24: The UMHA has approved construction of 85 anti-Naxalite Police Stations in Bihar. Bihar had sought 100 Police Stations under the scheme in which UMHA had approved construction of 400 fortified Police Stations in nine Maoist-affected states.

February 25: A CPI-Maoist cadre was arrested from Bangalwa village in Munger District. Acting on a tip-off Police raided the village and arrested Saheb Manjhi. He was allegedly involved in the killing of six tribals at Kareli village in Munger District in 2010.

February 28: About 40 armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist raided the office of a private road construction company and set ablaze a JCB and a hot mixing plant for not complying with their extortion demand at Bakhra in Muzaffarpur District. The Maoists also assaulted company employees when they tried to put up a resistance, Police said adding that they also snatched two mobile phones from the labourers.

March 2: In a suspected CPI-Maoist attack, two Government officials were killed while another was seriously injured, in Sitamarhi District, Police sources said. The victims were identified as officials from the Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation. Project manager G.B. Singh and engineer Vikas Mishra died on the spot while site in-charge Ramadeen Pandey, was injured.

March 4: 23 CPI-Maoist cadres surrendered before the Police with arms and ammunitions in Bihar's Muzaffarpur District in the presence of a large number of local people. The Maoists handed over 14 rifles, six country-made pistols and 100 rounds of ammunition to the Police.

March 10: A joint combing operation, codenamed 'Sarvanash', begun on March 7 by CRPF, Jamui and Banka Police against CPI-Maoists in the border area of the two Districts ended with the arrest of Babulal Yadav, a Maoist and the prime accused in the killing of Prayag Yadav, a former head of Chilkari Panchayat in Banka in March 2010.

March 11: Ravi Kumar (22), an engineering student from Ranchi was injured by a stray bullet when alleged CPI-Maoist cadres opened fire at Habbipur village under Rajpur Police Station in Rohtas District. Rajesh Sharma, an active member of the now disbanded MCC, had land dispute with a fellow villager, Lalan Singh which was intervened by Rajpur block pramukh Rajendra Singh. About six members of an armed squad of the Maoists attacked the relatives of Rajendra Singh while they were on their way to the local market where Ravi, who had gone to the market to buy vegetables, was hit by a stray bullet which was fired by the Maoists. Police seized 15 cartridges of .315 bore and an empty cartridge during a search at Rajesh's house.

The Police arrested Amarnath Sahni, a CPI-Maoist cadre from a private nursing home in Tajpur area in Samastipur District. Sahni, a native of Vaishali District, was wanted in several incidents of Maoist insurgency in the District, SP Varun Kumar Sinha said.

March 13: The CRPF and the Bihar Police personnel seized a haul of arms and ammunition from a CPI-Maoist hideout in Kumbhi forest of Gaya District. The recovery included three country-made bombs, four drum-bombs, 17 cartridges and a haul of explosives, SSP, Vinay Kumar, said.

March 18: Armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist set ablaze three JCB machines of a private construction firm at Bahadurpur village under Rafiganj Police Station in Aurangabad District. Sources said, around 50 heavily armed Maoists raided the office of the private construction firm, Shakti Constructions, and set ablaze three JCB machines engaged in road construction in the area. The Maoists also assaulted the munshi of the firm before setting the machines on fire.

March 21: Cadres of the CPI-Maoist triggered a blast at a railway track and set afire two mobile phone towers and a tractor in Jamui District, Police said. A group of heavily armed Maoists triggered a blast at the railway track near Narganju rail station, disrupting train services. In Sanowar area, the Maoists set ablaze two mobile phone towers and a tractor.

March 22: Over 50 heavily armed CPI-Maoist cadres triggered a dynamite blast to blow up the Khaira Block office, and later set on fire the official files in Jamui District.

The Maoists set ablaze 12 sand-laden trucks at Gidheshwar Ghat under the Khaira Police Station area in the District, during their two-day East Bihar and Jharkhand bandh agitation to protest the arrest of their five leaders from various places in Bihar and Jharkhand, Police sources said. No casualties were reported in these incidents, the sources added.

March 25: A group of heavily armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist set ablaze two JCB machines of a road construction company at Kutidih in Aurangabad District. The refusal of the company to pay money to the Maoists was stated to be the motive for the attack, the Police said.

March 26: The Bihar Police busted a hideout of CPI-Maoist leader Dev Kumar Singh alias Arvind in Aurangabad District and arrested five Maoists and recovered arms and ammunition. The arrested Maoists were in charge of procuring arms and ammunition for the Maoists in Bihar and Jharkhand, the Police claimed.

Two Maoists, identified as identified as Rakesh alias Manoj alias Akhilesh Singh and Udit Kumar Singh alias Tulsi alias Toofan, were arrested from a building near Town School in Gandhi Nagar area under Town Police Station in the District, with a huge cache of arms and ammunition. The Police recovered 3600 cartridges, 1,000 ml of Trio nitrate methane explosive, one packet of sodium bicarbonate, five packets of naphthalene, two rocket-propelled grenades (RPG), one rocket launcher, three magazines and 20 litres of other chemicals. The Police also recovered INR 334,000, 17 cell phones, a Bolero jeep and 100 gloves, besides Maoist literature from the incident site.

The SFs arrested two LWEs from Lutuwa village in Gaya District. The SFs also recovered 17 wireless handsets, two walkie talkies, 12 chargers, three mobile SIM cards, 100 Police caps, 12 whistles, 12 belts and 22 mobile set adapters from them.

March 30: Around 20 cadres of the CPI-Maoist raided the Lutwa village under Imamganj Police Station in Gaya District and killed Ajay Yadav, a Public Distribution System dealer.

April 1: A top cadre of the CPI-Maoist identified as Dinesh Yadav was arrested from Belduria village of Rohtas District.

April 2: A CPI-Maoist cadre identified as Arjun Chandravanshi was arrested from a hideout in Bishunpur village in Nauhatta in Rohtas District. Chandravanshi was wanted in about 18 cases, including a landmine blast near Dabua crossing in 2002 in which several Policemen were killed.

April 3: A top CPI-Maoist cadre identified as Mohan Rai was arrested from Khatwari village under Khaira Police Station area in Jamui District. Wires used for landmine explosion, INR 25,000 in cash and several other incriminating articles were recovered from his possession.

April 4: The CPI-Maoist cadres abducted a forest guard and three others from Amjhari village under Sono Police Station in Jamui District. The incident came to light on April 6 when the Maoists called up the forest guard Naresh Singh's son for ransom of INR one million.

April 7: Four CPI-Maoist cadres, including Bihari Sao, a 'self-styled commander' were arrested during a search operation following a tip-off from a forested area in Gaya District. Three country-made pistol and five live cartridges were recovered from their possession.

April 10: Four persons including Naresh Singh, a forest guard who were abducted by suspected CPI-Maoist cadres from near Batia forest under Sono Police Station on April 4, have been released. Singh and the labourers - Abul Ansari, Chotu Ansari and Mumtaz Ansari - were released in Chhabadi forest in Jamui District in the wee hours of the day.

April 12: In a joint operation, the CRPF and local Police, arrested a top cadre of the CPI-Maoist, identified as Naresh Paswan, with arms and ammunition from near Jhanda chowk in East Champaran District. A pistol, two magazines and five ammunitions were seized from his possession.

April 15: The CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze five vehicles of a private road construction company at Dumri Buzurg village under Nayagaon Police Station in Saran District. Around 15 armed Maoists raided the office of the private road construction firm and set ablaze four dumpers and another vehicle parked there. Non-payment of levy demanded by the Maoists from the owner of the firm was probably the reason behind the incident.

April 19: The Saran District Police arrested two CPI-Maoist cadres, identified as Vijay Ram and Dhaneshwar Manjhi, from Dariyapur village in connection with setting ablaze of five vehicles including four dumpers of a private construction firm, Madukan Construction Private Limited, at Dumri Buzurg village under Nayagaon Police Station in the District in the night of April 13. According to Police sources in Chapra, a pistol and 18 live cartridges were recovered from them.

April 22: Around 25 armed CPI-Maoist cadres raided a brick kiln and assaulted the labourers and set ablaze three tractors at a brick kiln at Sahajadpur village in Vaishali District.

The Bihar Government will install satellite phones at 85 places in Maoist and flood-affected Districts for better communication in times of emergency. An official of BSNL said satellite phones will be installed soon after equipment arrives in Patna.

April 23: Ten French tourists, detained in Nawada District for violating visa rules, were deported from Bihar. The Police suspected the tourists had been working for a Maoist-sympathiser voluntary group, claiming to be working for rights of the landless people. They were sent to New Delhi from where they will have to catch the first flight home.

April 29: SFs recovered six can bombs from Kanani forest in Kharagpur Police Station area of Munger District. The SFs also detained three persons on suspicion of being CPI-Maoist cadres.

Acting on a tip off, a Police team from adjoining Purnia District raided a hideout and arrested Mahesh Yadav, a CPI-Maoist ‘area commander’ in Katihar District.

Six SPs in the State are facing Maoist threat. While two SPs have been threatened for not attending the Maoists' (Kangaroo) courts, the other four are on the hit list for launching operation against the CPI-Maoist. The SPs who are facing Maoist threat are: Jamui SP Upendra Sharma, Banka SP Vikas Barman, Gaya SP Vinay Kumar, Gopalganj SP Nitasha Guria, East Champaran SP Ganesh Kumar and Rohtas SP Manu Maharaj.

April 30: Twenty-seven suspected CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested during a joint combing operation by the STF of Bihar Police and CRPF personnel besides DAP personnel at Bhim Bandh forest in Munger District.

May 3: The Police arrested a CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Sudarshan Bhuian alias Gupta, during a combing operation in Karbandaria forests in Rohtas District. Gupta was wanted in several cases including the firing on Policemen in Taradih village during 2010 assembly polls and attack on the BSF camp in Dansha village in 2009.

May 5: The SFs arrested Chhabila Sahni alias Mushar Sahni, an ‘area commander’ of the CPI -Maoist, from a hideout under Mufassil Police Station area in East Champaran District.

May 6: A Maoist, identified as Nathuni Sah, was arrested by the SFs from Sishani village in East Champaran District. Acting on a tip off, the Police and the CRPF in a joint operation arrested Sah along with a sophisticated pistol and nine rounds of ammunition. Sah was wanted in connection with 11 cases of bank loot, murder, dacoity and Maoist-related violence in East Champaran and neighbouring Sitamarhi Districts.

Chhattisgarh

January 1: Two bombs of 40 kilograms each were recovered from Bastar region. Officials at Police headquarters said the bombs were placed on a forested road in Awapalli area of Bijapur District, 500 kilometres from State capital Raipur. The Police suspect that CPI-Maoist cadres placed the bombs to target a convoy of the Police and Paramilitary Forces which was expected to cross the road.

Nine more Districts came into existence in Chhattisgarh, taking the total number to 27, Chief Minister Raman Singh said. The new Districts, were carved out to speed up the pace of development, Singh said while talking to reporters in Raipur. The new Districts are Sukma, Kondagaon, Balod, Bemetara, Baloda Bazar, Gariaband, Mungeli, Surajpur and Balrampur. Sukma District has been carved out of Dantewada District and Kondagaon from Bastar District.

January 4: A Dantewada District court has granted bail to the Essar general manager, who is one of the accused in the alleged payouts of the protection money by the multinational to the CPI-Maoist in Chhattisgarh. Observing that the case of the accused DVCS Verma is different from that of the other accused, the district and sessions court judge A K Beck granted him bail saying the Police have failed to produce enough evidence against him even three months after his arrest, defence counsel K K Dubey said. The court ordered Verma's release on two bonds of INR 200,000 each, he said.

January 5: In a joint operation, four CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested by the CRPF and the State Police near Madhonar village in Narayanpur District. The arrested four Maoists are identified as Madhonar, Gangaram Korram, Mayaram and Dasamu Korram. The Police also recovered a cache of explosives, arms and weapons. They also seized Maoist literature and posters.

January 12: Top CPI-Maoist leader Deepak Khalko was arrested by the Raipur Police from the forest areas in Jashpur District. The Police had received information that Khalko was in his Lokhandi house and a special team reached the place. After a short round of cross-firing, the Maoist was arrested by Raipur Police. ACP of Jashpur District, Sanjiv Shukla, said Deepak had been placed on a wanted list for his involvement in several crimes. A country-made pistol, two live cartridges and two empty cartridges were recovered from him.

January 13: The CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze the heavy machinery engaged in construction of a road between Maraiagudem and Chintalnar, near Lingalapalli village in Dantewada District. According to sources, heavily armed Maoists descended on Lingalapalli village and set ablaze four hydraulic excavators, two road rollers, and a tipper and an earthmover, in the afternoon. Following the incident, Bhadrachalam Divisional Police in Khammam District intensified vigil in the far-flung areas across the inter-State border with Chhattisgarh.

A suspected CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Pudiyami Mada, reportedly committed suicide at the Sukma Police Station in Sukma District (recently carved out from Dantewada District). According to the Sukma Police Station diary, Mada was arrested by a CRPF team "headed by Assistant Commandant, 2nd Battalion, Ashish Kumar on January 13 morning and handed over to the Police at around 8:30 am. He hanged himself in the lock-up at around 9:30 pm. The Police blamed the CRPF of torturing that led the Maoist to commit suicide.

January 15: Four Policemen posted were suspended, after suspected Maoist cadre, Pudiyami Mada, reportedly committed suicide at the Sukma Police Station in Sukma District, officials at the Police headquarters in Raipur said.

January 16: Chief Minister Raman Singh said that providing all facilities to CPI-Maoist-infested Districts in the State and bringing back Maoists to the mainstream is on the topmost agenda of his Government. He was addressing a public gathering to mark the creation of Sukma District, carved out of Maoist-affected Dantewada.

January 22: Four CRPF personnel, including Deputy Commandant Diwakar Mahapatra, were killed and two others injured in a landmine blast suspected to have been triggered by the CPI-Maoist cadres in Bastar District. They were on their way to Chitrakoot where President Pratibha Patil was to pay a visit, a CRPF spokesman said.

January 26: Calling CPI-Maoist anti-national, Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt urged people on the occasion of Republic Day to help the authorities to crush them. "We have to stamp out anti-national Maoists to protect our glorious democracy," he said. The State Government is giving priority to increase morale of the SFs by increasing their strength, and recruiting local youths from tribal areas, he said. "On one hand the State is touching new highs in development, on the other the Maoists have made the life of forested residents worse," he said. CM Raman Singh hoisted the national flag at Jagdalpur, headquarters of the Bastar region.

January 27: One top CPI-Maoist leader, suspected to be the commander of Mahasamund-Bargarh division, was killed during an exchange of fire in Karramal and Paridhapali forest under Baramkela Police Station in Raigarh District. According to State DGP Anil M Navaney, after getting a tip-off that a group of 50 Maoists were holding a meeting with the local villagers in Karramal forest, a joint squad of Police Force and STF was sent to the location. After spotting the SFs, the Maoists opened fire and during the Police retaliation, one of the Maoists was gunned down, while other escaped from the spot, DGP Navaney said. "Among other things, an AK 47 was recovered from the deceased Maoist, who was in Maoist uniform. Besides, a diary, seized from him, has identified him as DVCM, Ajhade. However, we are yet to identify the body. But the recovery of AK 47 from him clearly indicates that he was a high-ranking Maoist leader", Navaney said. Apart from the AK 47 rifle, three magazines, two detonators, a tiffin bomb and other material was recovered from the location, he added.

January 29: One personnel of the newly-created CAAF was injured when he was attacked with sharp weapons by a group of CPI-Maoist cadres at his native village of Kondru under Jangla Police Station in Bijapur District. The CAAF has been established recently to absorb the SPOs - tribal youths recruited by the Chhattisgarh Police to fight Naxals - following a directive from the Supreme Court to disband SPOs.

January 29: The Police arrested a Maoist 'area commander', identified as Suresh, from the Pankhajur area. Suresh, a native of Bhairamgarh, was an active cadre of the outfit for several years. The Police have recovered self loading rifle from his possession.

January 30: CPI-Maoist cadres abducted the station master of Bhansi railway station in Dantewada District and released him unharmed after about an hour, an unnamed senior Police Officer said.

Seven cadres of the Bastar Divisional Committee of CPI-Maoist, including four women, surrendered before the IG Bastar range, TJ Longkumer and SP Rahul Bhagat in Kanker District. "The surrendered Maoists carry a cash reward of varying amounts from INR 5, 000 to INR 300, 000 cash. This is the first time that the members of the divisional committee have surrendered before the Police," Longkumer said. Among those surrendered include 'platoon commander' of the East Bastar Divisional Committee, Sunil Kumar Matlam alias Rajesh Kumar and his wife Jenni alias Jayanti Kutari, who is a 'commander' of the Maoist cultural division called Chetna Natya Mandali; Jan Militia 'commander' of Pratappur range Ramdas and his wife Panidobir, Koelibera 'deputy commander' Susheela, Sitapur Local Organising Squad 'commander' Jaylal and his wife Asmani alias Sanay, besides Samo Mandvi, cadre of the 'platoon number 25' being operational in the Raoghat area of Kanker.

January 31: The CPI-Maoist are planning to hold their crucial 10th congress in the Maoist-controlled Abujhmad, a 6,000-Square kilometres densely forested region extending from south Bastar in Chhattisgarh to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, reports received by the State Police said in Raipur.

February 5: The CRPF is set to intensify its operations in the CPI-Maoist corridor with the creation of two new bases for the NTRO and helicopters in South Chhattisgarh, close to the Maoist hotbed of Dantewada District. CRPF, which has deployed more than 70,000 troops for anti-Naxal operations in various states, is now planning a large offensive in the dense forests of Abujhmad, a region extending from South Bastar (Dantewada) in Chhattisgarh to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.

February 9: Two Policemen were killed in a landmine blast, allegedly carried out by the CPI-Maoist cadres, in Polampalli area in Sukma District, recently carved out of Dantewada District. The Policemen were returning to Dornapal in a Sumo which became the target of the blast. While Constable Surya Kartam (30) and Police driver Suryaprakash Sonvani were killed, two others Nanda Sinha and Rajaram were injured, when the Maoists fired on Police after the blast, and Police retaliated.

February 11: The ITBP recovered 60 kilograms of explosives from Rajnandgaon District. The explosives were recovered when an ITBP patrolling party deployed in the region to counter CPI-Maoist noticed a patch of asphalt in the middle of the Kohka-Manpur road varying in colour. "There were two IEDs hidden three feet below the road -- one weighing 20 kg stacked above another weighing 40 kg," ITBP's public relations officer, Deepak Pandey said. According to Pandey, it is for the first time that explosives have been found in the middle of a busy road and the Maoists may be starting a new dangerous trend.

February 17: A joint team of BSF, STF and Kanker District Police busted a bomb-making unit of the CPI-Maoist and seized around 300 kilograms of explosives and equipment used for assembling IEDs. The seized items included Ammonium Nitrate, TNT, a huge stock of detonators, Codex Wire measuring 200 meters, live cartridges, a large number of pipes, tiffins, besides other items used by the Naxals in making bombs.

February 25: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed two Home Guards of the Chhattisgarh Police at a "jan adalat" (people's court) in a forest pocket in Cherpal area under Bijapur District for defying their diktat. The dead bodies of Moriyam Mangu and Anand Jasba were found on the roadside forest pocket in Cherpal area. Both the Home Guards were missing since January 31 this year. Few leaflets left by the Maoists said the Home Guards were killed at a "jan adalat" on charges of teaming up with authorities for anti-Maoist drives and also committing offences against the public. In one of the leaflets, the Maoists have asked youths of the 40,000 square kilometre conflict zone of Bastar region to stay away from joining the Police Force.

The Maoists buried alive a sarpanch at Kosnar under Gangalur Police limits in Bijapur District for guiding a team of State Government officials to his village for enumeration of farmers. The Kosnar sarpanch Kutem Siku (58), and his wife Gudri Bai (51), were abducted from their village early on February 25 and later produced before a people's court set up by the Maoists in the nearby forest. The court indicted them for helping the officials and ordered execution of the sarpanch and assaulting of his wife.

About 150 cadres of the CPI-Maoist raided a stone-mine in Bastar region for explosives. However, when they could not find any explosive, they set ablaze eight stone crusher machines at Partha and Darbha areas of the region.

February 26: Maoists allegedly set ablaze seven vehicles used for construction of road in Sukma District, the Police said.

March 4-5: The Raipur and Kolkata Police raided the premises of two transporters in Raipur after getting inputs that they were involved in transporting goods for the CPI-Maoist. The SF personnel seized a huge quantity of materials reportedly meant for manufacturing rocket launchers and grenades. The preliminary investigation suggested that the materials seized had the use in making sophisticated weapons like rocket launchers and grenades, he added. The police recovered 75 wooden boxes containing bolts and pipes from the premises of Pal Transport company while small motors used for assembling parts were recovered from on Monday's raid.

March 7: Fourteen vehicles including four JCB machines belonging to Patil Construction Company engaged in road construction work in Chhattisgarh's Kanker District were set afire by suspected CPI-Maoist cadres who have also threatened to stop further work, Police said.

Three suspected cadres of the CPI-Maoist were arrested by the CRPF personnel and the local Police in a joint operation in Keelam region in Narayanpur District. Police recovered tiffin bomb, bow and arrow, wires and a detonator from them.

March 14: At least three BSF troopers were killed and four others injured when suspected CPI-Maoist cadres blew up the vehicle they were travelling in Kanker District. The Maoists triggered the landmine explosion near Erikbuta village under Pakhanjur Police Station limits when the mini truck carrying the troopers of the 87th battalion of the BSF was passing.

March 18: A senior most CPI-Maoist leader Gundeti Shankar, popularly known as Seshanna and Maheshanna, died of a snake bite in Dantewada District. Shankar was believed to be taking shelter in the forest areas of Chhattisgarh on the borders of Telangana Districts of Andhra Pradesh. He was a member of NTSZC and was also appointed as the secretary of the Adilabad District committee.

March 19: The CPI-Maoist cadres opened indiscriminate fire in Bijapur District, killing Lachhuram Kashyap, a prominent Salwa Judum leader of Mirtur. The killing took place in the District when Kashyap was returning to his village from a Police Station.

Two CRPF troopers were injured during a joint operation of Chhattisgarh Police and CRPF in and around in Abujmaadh region in Bastar District for about two weeks, Chhattisgarh DGP Anil M Navaney said.

March 22: A CRPF head constable, Om Prakash, was killed by CPI-Maoist cadres at a weekly market in Sukma District. Head Constable Om Prakash, of the 150th Battalion deployed in Chintagufa, was surrounded by about half-a-dozen Maoists who snatched his AK-47 assault rifle and slit his throat.

March 24: The CPI-Maoist alleged atrocities by SFs on tribals during the last week's anti-Naxal operations in Abujhmad area, a densely forested area extending from south Bastar in Chhattisgarh to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.

March 26: A CRPF trooper was killed and another injured in an encounter with the cadres of the CPI-Maoist in Sukma District. The gunfight broke out between the Maoists and the CRPF personnel in Alpal Metta village in Sukma District when a CRPF team along with Chhattisgarh Police force went to the region for area domination.

March 27: Suspected CPI-Maoist abducted Palku Ram Mandavi (16), a student of Class 10, along with his classmate Lalu Tarasi, from their school in Orcha in Narayanpur District. The Maoists held Palku hostage accusing him of spying for the Police.

March 29: The Maoists released Lalu Tarasi, who was abducted along with his friend Palku Ram Mandavi on March 27 from Orcha in Narayanpur District.

March 31: Pakluram Mandavi (16), who was abducted by CPI-Maoist cadres on charges of acting as a Police informer, managed to flee from the Maoist captivity in Narayanpur District and reached safety after a night-long walk through the forest, the Police said.

April 1: An anti-Naxal operation, codenamed "Maad", "Kilam" and "Podku," was carried on in the Abujhmad forests, considered to be the CPI-Maoist headquarters, during March 5-20. IG (Operations) in Chhattisgarh, Pankaj Singh said that 33 Maoist cadres were arrested during the operation. The operation began on March 5 and continued till March 20.

Chief Minister Raman Singh, addressing a function in Raipur District said, there is an international conspiracy behind Maoist activities in India, and adds that the motive is to destabilise and weaken the country economically.

April 2: Several CPI-Maoist cadres were injured in an encounter with Paramilitary Forces in Bhanupratappur area in Kanker District. However, the Police source said no BSF personnel were injured in the attack.

April 5: Aadesh Pal, a STF trooper was killed in an exchange of fire with CPI-Maoist cadres in Gandharpada forest area in Sukma District. Police suspect that at least five Maoists were also killed in the encounter, however, have not recovered a single body of Maoists from the spot.

The CRPF has successfully used UAVs to pick up ground conversation and movement of Maoist cadres in terrains of Chhattisgarh.

April 9: The CPI-Maoist cadres abducted a tribal youth from his native Toropi village in Kanker District and shot him dead. The Maoists shot dead the youth on charges of spying for local Police.

A contingent of DF and the STF arrested four Maoists in Sukma District during a combing operation in a forest area.

April 11: Two women, T Koteswari (55), and her daughter Subba Rao (30), both construction labourers of Tekulaboru village in Kunavaram mandal in Khammam District of Andhra Pradesh, were reportedly killed in a CPI-Maoist-Police cross-fire near Timilwada under Chintaguppa Police Station limits in Sukma District. Sources said that a group of heavily armed Maoists launched an attack on the base camp of Police personnel in the early hours of the day. The women were reported killed in the cross-fire.

Maoists reportedly blew up a bridge at a forested stretch between Amabeda and Ghanora in Kanker District in Chhattisgarh, just before State Forest Minister Vikram Usendi's convoy was scheduled to go to Amabeda. The incident took place around 10am under Amabeda Police Station area, in which no causalities were reported.

As many as 11 occupants of an ambulance, including six children among others, had a providential escape when cadres of the CPI-Maoist opened fire at the vehicle in Sukma District of Chhattisgarh. The ambulance carrying the children was going from Chintaguppa to Dornapal village for urgent medical treatment.

April 14: The Rajnandgaon District Police arrested four persons, including a city-based arms dealer-cum-petty contractor, near Farhad chowk in Manpur for their alleged act of procuring arms and ammunitions for the CPI-Maoist. A US-made sophisticated pistol and INR 400,000 in cash were among the materials seized. Mohammed Irfan Mohammed Samad, a resident of Rose Colony in city, was arrested along with Mohammed Ahmad Qureshi, Tilak Goyal, and Deepak Talukdar.

April 16: Nearly a dozen persons were injured when around 60-70 CPI-Maoist cadres wreaked their vengeance on the Dorla tribe population of Maraiguda village in Sukma District, bordering Andhra Pradesh, by allegedly molesting women, assaulting elders, and setting ablaze houses for not handing over to them Haka Mara, a local sarpanch and Salwa Judum leader.

April 20: Three persons, including two BJP local leaders, were killed when CPI-Maoist cadres triggered a powerful landmine blast on the convoy of BJP MLA Mahesh Gagda in Bijapur District. The Maoists blew up one of the eight vehicles of the convoy in a forested area in Pegrapalli in the District resulting in the killing of Purshottam Thakur, the BJP District unit vice president, Mahesh Pujari, another key local BJP leader and Ashwani Sharma, the vehicle driver. One person is also reported to be seriously injured in the attack.

April 21: The cadres of CPI-Maoist abducted the collector of Sukma District in Chhattisgarh before killing two of his bodyguards. The collector, Alex Paul Menon, was meeting a group of villagers for a Government outreach programme. It is suspected that the rebels have taken the collector deep inside the forests of Kerlapal (Dantewada District), some of which are suspected to be heavily mined by the CPI-Maoist.

April 22: The South Bastar Divisional Committee of the CPI-Maoist released an audio tape, demanding the release of their eight top Maoists: Markam Gopanna alias Satyam Reddy, Nirmal Akka alias Vijay Laxmi, Devpal Chandrashekhar Reddy, Shantipriya Reddy, Meena Choudhari, Korsa Sunny, Markam Sunny and Asit Kumar Sen within 72 hours to secure the release of Alex Menon, District Magistrate of Sukma District. The Maoists also want anti-Naxal Operation Green Hunt to be cancelled, SFs to be withdrawn from the region and individuals falsely implicated in Maoist cases should be released from jails. The Maoists have put up a deadline of April 25 before the Government, after which, they would take a decision about the abducted Collector in a Jan Adalat, the Police said. As reported earlier, Menon was abducted on April 21, 2012.

April 23: An all-party meeting held in Raipur to discuss proposals to secure the release of abducted Sukma District Magistrate, Alex P. Menon, concluded with the Chhattisgarh Government calling off SF operations in Bastar and agreeing to negotiate with the CPI-Maoist. As reported earlier, Menon was abducted on April 21, 2012.

Maoists named three mediators – Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, former National SC/ST Commission chairperson B D Sharma and President of All India Adivasi Mahasabha Manish Kunjam - for negotiations.

April 24: Abducted Sukma District collector Alex Paul Menon is "safe" but being an asthma patient, he needs medicines, the CPI-Maoist cadres said and proposed the name of human rights activist and academic Professor Hargopal as another mediator for talks with the Chhattisgarh Government. The Maoists also stuck to their April 25 deadline set to the Government to meet their demands in exchange for the freedom of Menon, a 2006-batch IAS officer, who was abducted on April 21.

April 28: A three-member CPI-Maoist group led by ‘South Bastar Regional Committee secretary’ Ramana, alias Ravulu Srinivas, reportedly held talks with their two interlocutors in Tadmetla forest, in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada District to decide the fate of Sukma District collector Alex Paul Menon, in Naxal captivity. Alex Paul Menon is in CPI-Maoist custody since April 21.

April 29: Cadres of the Palle Madi dalam of the Maoists shot dead a villager in Rajnandgaon District.

April 30: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed three villagers whom they had abducted a week back from Tadkoli village in Bijapur District. The Maoists accused them of being Salwa Judum members.

The Chhattisgarh Government and interlocutors for the CPI-Maoist came to an agreement to constitute a high-power official committee to examine the cases of all prisoners (with a focus on tribals) in the State and to expedite the release the abducted Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon.

Around 12 armed Maoists set ablaze four vehicles under Khandgaon Police Station in Rajnandgaon District. The Maoists set ablaze one JCB Machine, one Faber Machine, one water tanker and one tractor working under the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana by the RK Construction. The Maoists left pamphlets to oppose the Government and appealed the people to observe May Day [May 1].

May 2: Two Policemen were killed and four others injured when a group of CPI -Maoist cadres opened indiscriminate firing on a Police team patrolling the weekly market in Bacheli area in Dantewada District.

May 3:12-day hostage crisis ended after CPI-Maoist released Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon. The Maoists handed him over to their interlocutors G. Haragopal and B.D. Sarma deep inside Bastar forests.

As per the agreement, the Government set up a high-power standing committee to ‘regularly review all cases of undertrials. These include Maoist-related cases too.

A bail petition was moved in a Raipur court for the release of Maoist leaders Santipriya Reddy, wife of Gudsa Usendi, a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) and Malati Chowdary. These two were among the eight whose release was demanded by the Maoists in exchange for the abducted Collector.

May 4:Two CPI-Maoist mediators virtually contested Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s denial of any swap deal with Maoists to secure Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon’s release from Maoist custody, saying that “there was an understanding to release 3 Maoists” in exchange of Menon’s freedom.

A Chhattisgarh court rejected the bail application of two women cadres of the CPI-Maoist who the Maoists wanted to be released in exchange for Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon. Rejecting the bail pleas of Meena Choudhary and Malti alias Shantipriya Reddy, Additional Sessions Judge B P Varma said since their crime appears to be serious in nature, they could not be granted bail. Their lawyer, however, said that they would now move the high court.

Jharkhand

January 1: A CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Ganesh Lohra, a member of Guddu Singh squad of the outfit, and three of his aides were arrested from a rented house in Pandra under Sukhdevnagar Police Station on the outskirts of Ranchi District. The three aides were identified as Mukeshan Soni, Satyendra Kumar and Abhishek Anand. The Police recovered a bike, a four-wheeler and a mobile phone from their possession.

Two additional CRPF battalions, earmarked for the Saranda forest area that was freed from over 10 years of Maoist dominance in a month-long offensive last August, will take guard in February. At present, three battalions of Paramilitary troopers are already stationed in Saranda. DIG, CRPF, Bhanu Pratap Singh said, “Though the basic idea behind deployment of more CRPF jawans in Saranda is to bolster the security apparatus in the area that had been home to Maoists for about a decade, the troopers will also have to perform a major role. They will have to provide full security cover to official machinery that will be stationed in the forest under the Centre’s integrated action plan (IAP),” Singh said.

January 3: The CPI-Maoist cadres beheaded one youth, identified as Sukhram Munda, at Gamaria Raja Bazaar under Adki Police Station limits in Khunti District after branding him as a ‘Police informer’. "The headless body was recovered near a river bridge at Gamaria Raja Bazaar and the victim's head was found after a search of the area during the day," SDPO AK Sinha said. A leaflet left by the Maoists read that similar would be the fate of Police "informers", SDPO Sinha said.

A joint operation of the Khunti Police and CRPF led to the recovery of 40 kilograms of IED planted by suspected Maoists on a non-tarred road between Bhandra- Jilenga forests in the District, the Police said. The Police unearthed the IED and recovered around 200 meters of wire connected to it.

January 5: CPI-Maoist cadre, Balram Sahu alias David (30), who was arrested near Jamui Railway Station in Bihar on January 3, was brought back to the jail in Ranchi District. Sahu, one of the six under trials who had escaped from a prison in Saraikela District in 2011, is an accused in half-a-dozen cases, including robbery of INR 50 million and two kilogram gold from an ICICI van and murder of two State Government functionaries, DSP Pramod Kumar and Minister Ramesh Singh Munda. David has reportedly told the Police that he had paid INR 700, 000 as bribe to the jail staff to escape from the prison. He is also learnt to have told the Police that after the jailbreak, he had been shuttling between Jamui and Moktama in Bihar.

The Jharkhand Government appealed to CPI-Maoist cadres to make a fresh beginning in the New Year by surrendering to the rule of law, as it responded to feelers from a section of cadres, but did not promise any let-up in ongoing anti-Maoist operations. The Government gave a month’s time to active members of CPI-Maoist to return to the mainstream, through an advertisement in local dailies on December 31. The notice also had on display the rehabilitation package a rebel was entitled if they gave themselves up under the state’s surrender policy approved in February 2009. Explaining the reasons behind the renewed appeal, home secretary J.B. Tubid said the State had received feelers that a large number of Maoists wanted to surrender, particularly in Ranchi and Khunti, but they were being threatened by their leaders. “So, we gave them a month to avail the opportunity and join the mainstream,” he reasoned.

January 6: Several posters written in red, blue and green ink were pasted by the CPI-Maoist cadres at public places and Government offices in Dandai and Chinia areas of Garhwa District asking the villagers, Government officials and newly elected panchayat representatives to change their modus operandi. A day before [January 5], the Maoists also posted similar posters on the walls of Ranka and Ramkanda block offices, Ranka market, passenger shed, pramukh office and Udaypur bazaar of Ramkanda block. The posters also warned the TPC to stop its activities. However, Police removed all the posters. Garhwa Superintendent of Police Michael Raj S said, "We have information that Maoists have been active in some parts of the district in a bid to consolidate their support base." Police are aware of the recent activities of the Maoists.

January 9: BJP MLA Gurusaran Nayak escaped a bid on his life when CPI-Maoist cadres fired indiscriminately a few metres away from his car near Harta village in West Singhbhum District. The legislator was returning after inaugurating the chief minister's Kanyadan Yojana at Harta Middle School in the District when the incident took place. "I was the target of the Maoists, but I am safe," Nayak said when contacted.

According to Palamu SP A T Mathew, Forces will not be withdrawn from Palamu for the Uttar Pradesh polls, which will have no impact on the ongoing operations against the Maoists. "We expect some forces of JAP to be taken out from here for UP polls, but this will not come in the way of anti-Maoist operations here," he said. However, JAP personnel have been moved out of Jharkhand to Manipur for assembly election in the north-eastern states slated to be held in February. "Palamu division shares its borders with Chandauli and Sonebhadra in UP, where there is a heavy presence of Maoists," said the CRPF DIG adding that extremism in these places was on the wane.

January 10: The CPI-Maoist cadres attacked an excavation site owned by Panem Coal Mines Limited at Katahaldih in Amrapara in Pakur District and killed a security guard. Over two dozen Maoists armed with sophisticated firearms and traditional weapons stormed the coal excavation site and fired indiscriminately on security guards posted there. One of the guards, Pramod Yadav, was killed in the firing while at least four others sustained bullet injuries. Before leaving, the Maoists set ablaze an earthmover, though company sources said three vehicles had been burnt.

During a special operation carried out by the CRPF and District Police at Hunterganj locality in Chatra District, a CPI-Maoist 'sub-zonal commander', identified as Madanji alias Tiwariji alias Basudeb Bhuyan, was arrested. Chatra SP Anup Birtheray said Madanji was wanted in about ten cases. A rifle, a pistol and 20 detonators were recovered from him.

January 11: The CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead Makheran Ganju, a former 'area commander' of the outfit, in Chatra District, for quitting the outfit. The bullet-riddled body was recovered at Roshan village of the District along with a Maoist note.

A group of 15 railway employees cleaning railway tracks found a can bomb weighing 20 kilogram on the line at Banaso between Jarangdih and Bokaro Thermal stations in Bokaro District. Bokaro SP Kuldeep Dwivedi said, "The bomb weighed 20 kilogram. We have launched a search in the area after the recovery of the bomb. No other bomb was found." The place where the bomb was found falls under the Coal India Cord section in Dhanbad division through which many passenger and goods trains pass everyday. Fortunately, the bomb was old and did not explode. "The bomb was possibly planted by the Naxalites in 2009 at the spot where a landmine blast was triggered by the Maoists during the Red bandh. The wires attached to the bomb were damaged. However, we have defused the bomb," a Police officer said.

A CRPF team arrested Gambhir Singh Bhumij (38), an armed Maoist and active Maoist propagandist from Indurbati village in Patamda Police Station area in East Singhbhum District. The Police recovered his katta, a country-made pistol from his possession, East Singhbhum SSP Akhilesh Kumar Jha said. "We nabbed one of them, who turned out to be Bhumij. Interrogation revealed that he was a resident of Amjore village in Patamda and was attached to the Ayodhya Pahad squad in Balrampur block in Purulia District of West Bengal," CRPF's Battalion VII commanding officer Sanjay Kumar Singh said, adding rebels operated simultaneously in Dalma-Patamda, Ayodhya Pahad and Dampara.

January 12: Two close accomplices of sub-zonal 'commander' Kundan Pahan were arrested from Tamar area in Ranchi District, during an raid. The two Maoists have been identified as Sukhlal Munda alias Suresh Munda alias Badaku alias Chattan and Etwari alias Vidramani alias Shakuntala alias Suku from Hurugdih village. During interrogation the duo it came to light that Pahan was injured in the encounter in Saranda forest of West Singhbhum District on December 21, 2011.

A close associate of top Maoist 'commander' Kundan Pahan, identified as Chattan Singh, was arrested along with his girl friend Aitwari alias Shanuntala from Ruragdih village under Tamar Police Station in Ranchi District. Giving the information SSP of Ranchi S.K. Singh said that Chattan Singh is involved in the killing of a former MLA, the bank van loot and many other criminal incidents.

January 15: An injured CPI-Maoist cadre died in a hospital in Jamshedpur a few hours after his arrest from an area under Gurabandha Police Station in West Singhbhum. Gulach Munda, an accused in the abduction of a block development officer in 2010 besides 15 other offences, died in the M G M Hospital. Munda sustained injury while he was trying to escape from the clutches of the Police.

January 15-16: The SFs arrested two CPI-Maoist cadres from separate places during anti-Maoist operations in Latehar and Bokaro Districts. The two arrestees are identified as ‘area commander' Janaki Mahato and Maoist cadre Moti Mahato from villages situated near Jhumra foothills, ASP Prasant Karn said. As many as seven IEDs were recovered at Barwadih in Latehar District during search operation. Besides four IEDS, the SFs recovered 500 grams of gun powder, 15 metre black wire, 20 kg ammonium nitrate, a double barrel gun and one country-made gun, the ASP said.

January 16: One person was killed and another got injured when SFs allegedly fired at their car after they ignored a warning to stop for checking during a CPI-Maoist State-wide bandh in Palamu District. "The CRPF and the District Police who were patrolling after the Maoists called a state wide shutdown last night [January 16] opened fire on the car after the occupants ignored their call to stop for checking at Sultani Ghati," SP Anup T Mathew said. "Dara Singh alias Devendra Singh, who was driving the car, died in the car while Ajit Singh suffered bullet wounds and was referred to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi," the SP said. The duo hailed from Jangop village in Aurangabad District in Bihar, Mathew said and added they were returning home when the incident happened.

An armed group of CPI-Maoist, shot dead a cadre of the TPC, identified as Avdhesh Yadav (45), in Palamu District. The slain TPC cadre was a resident of Jhargada village under Hussainabad subdivision of the District.

January 17: Amidst speculations about the possible dates and venues of the tenth Congress of the CPI-Maoist, sources said the Maoists have begun their secret conclave at a place in Saraikela District, bordering the State’s capital Ranchi. There have been various reports about the meeting scheduled to be held this month. While earlier reports said it would be held in Jharkhand, some reports said it was scheduled to take place in their Abujhmad stronghold in Chhattisgarh. Sources said “the meet began in Saraikela District from January 12.” The ninth CPI-Maoist Congress was also held in Jharkhand.

East Singhbhum Police launched a massive combing operation at Ghurabandha in Ghatshila following intelligence inputs on infiltration of armed Maoists from West Bengal. According to intelligence sources, an armed squad of Maoists from West Midnapore District in West Bengal had taken shelter at Kudian and Hariyan pahads, in Ghurabandha. During the combing operation at the hillocks in Ghurabandha, Police and CRPF troopers rounded up a suspected Maoist from Gian village. The Police refused to disclose the name of the villager. A senior officer said the armed Maoists, reportedly hiding in the hilly terrain, might have given Police the slip and sneaked into Odisha while the combing operation was on. Five companies of CRPF, besides two of JAP, took part in the operation that began at around 6am and lasted for over 12 hours. East Singhbhum Senior Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Kumar Jha said that though the intelligence network had recently alerted the forces on the movement of Maoist ‘area commander’ (Ghurabandha) Kanhu Singh Munda and his assistant Puttu Singh Munda, information on the fresh infiltration of the rebels prompted them to launch the operation.

Work on setting up as many as 21 CRPF camps, as a part of the Saranda Action Plan, a development initiative in West Singhbhum, is yet to start, awaiting clearance from the forest department, while the state is yet to form a Saranda Development Authority as advocated by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh after visiting the forest early December, 2011. Moreover, two additional CRPF battalions that came from Jammu & Kashmir have not been deployed in Saranda for lack of infrastructure support. Currently, these battalions are undergoing training at a jungle warfare school in Netarhat (Latehar) and at Hazaribagh Districts.

The teaching fraternity in Latehar District held a sit-in rally to protest the frequent abductions of teachers in the State. Interacting with media persons, teachers said that often abducted teachers are tortured and threatened by Maoists which has created a fear in the mind of the entire teaching fraternity in the region. "Teachers are often abducted by Maoists in forest areas and brutally beaten, tortured and threatened. Maoists also say that if we tell anything to media or state authorities, they would kill us. We are scared about our existence," said Ramesh Kumar, a primary teacher.

January 18: Security arrangement has been beefed up in view of the 24-hour bandh in Ghatshila sub-division in East Singhbhum District called by the Maoists from midnight of January 18, the first bandh after night train services resumed in the Tata-Kharagpur-Rourkela section of South Eastern Railway. The bandh call has been given in protest against the killing of a Maoist, Gulach Munda, on January 15. The services resumed on January 12, which had remain suspended since the Jnaneswari Express derailment incident near Jhargram, in West Bengal on May 28 2010.

January 19: A day after seven unidentified bodies were recovered in the afternoon of January 18 from near Gagra village in Khunti District, the Police identified the victims and ruled out Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) involvement. The dead are identified as Akash Hassa (20), Puno Hassa (21), Fudu Hassa (20), Kande Munda (22), Redan Munda (50), Teknath Munda (38), and Fagu Munda (20). Khunti Superintendent of Police M. Tamil Vanan said “After primary investigations, we are 99 per cent sure that the rebels did not orchestrate the killings. Personal rivalry appears to be the main motive.”

The daylong Maoist bandh in Ghatshila subdivision in East Singhbhum District evoked mixed response. Amid heightened security arrangements in six blocks of the subdivision, the bandh witnessed mixed response with commercial establishments and markets in Ghatshila, Musabani, Gorabandha and Dhalbhumgarh blocks, which remained closed for a large part of the day. However, in Baharagora and Chakuliya, the effect of bandh was relatively less with markets reporting brisk business. Transportation was largely affected with passenger buses scheduled for Jamshedpur, Chaibasa, Musabani, Seraikela, among other routes, remaining off the road for the day.

January 21: As many as 50 – 60 armed CPI-Maoist cadres triggered a landmine blast and blew up an armoured vehicle, killing 13 Police personnel on board in a forest of Garhwa District. Led by OIC of Bhandaria Police Station Rajbali Chowdhary, troopers of VII battalion of JAP were accompanying local BDO Vasudev Prasad and Garhwa zilla parishad chairperson Shushma Mehta, who were on way to Bargarh village in separate cars to resolve a dispute over a health centre due to which villagers were observing a shutdown. Vasudev, whose vehicle was ahead of the armoured van carrying the Policemen, survived the attack. “Thirteen Policemen, including Officer-in Charge of Bhandaria Police Station, have died. The rebels took away 11 INSAS rifles, one SLR and two AK 47 rifles from the Security Forces,” said State Police spokesperson and IG (Provision) RK Mallick. According to information as many as 50 – 60 armed Maoists were involved in the attack that lasted for nearly 30 minutes. CM Arjun Munda, who was in Gumla, said the Maoists attack was an act of cowardice. “They killed innocent Policemen by planning an ambush. So far reports of 13 deaths have been confirmed,” he said.

January 22: The CPI-Maoist have listed, the immediate halt to the security offensive and withdrawal of Security Forces from Saryu, Kone, Oraiya and other areas in Latehar, Palamu and Garhwa Districts, as pre-conditions for the release of hostages. Garhwa zilla parishad chairperson Sushma Mehta, Akhtar Ansari [State (CPI-ML) Liberation member], her bodyguard Suresh Ram and driver Mehboob Ansari were abducted on January 21 after a landmine blast that killed 13 Policemen. “First stop harassing the poor in the name of a security offensive against us and remove security build-up in these areas. We will consider their release only after that,” said Maoist spokesperson Sudhir. “We are in touch with our Chhattisgarh counterparts. Borders have been sealed. We are working on specific intelligence input to trace these four who are being held captive by the Maoists,” said DGP GS Rath. Further, local journalist Satish Kumar Sinha was also abducted. However, they released Sinha after two hours of captivity and after holding a press conference in his presence.

January 23: The CPI-Maoist cadres triggered an explosion in the forest area along the Jharkhand- Chhattisgarh border in Garhwa District. The explosion took place somewhere in the forests at Chatia-Matgari, 20 Kilometres away from Bariganwa forest. Search operation by the SFs continued in the forests in the District, according to sources in Bhandaria Police Station of the District.

January 24: The Police arrested two persons, including a village sarpanch for their alleged involvement in the landmine blast triggered by the CPI-Maoist on January 21 that claimed 13 lives, in Garhwa District. "Bargarh village sarpanch Ramdas Minz and his aide Fida Hussain were arrested after we got evidence against them. They are charged under various Sections, like murder and criminal conspiracy," SP Michael S. Raj said.

The Garhwa District committee of the CPI-ML called for a bandh to protest the Police failure to trace zilla parishad chairperson Sushma Mehta, and three others, 48 hours after they were abducted from Lalmatia by Maoists. Later on the day, one Sudhir, who claimed to be the Maoist spokesperson, informed over telephone in Latehar that the Maoists had released zilla parishad chairperson Sushma Mehta and two other abducted persons. He said they would reach Garhwa by the evening.

In a letter written to the Chief Minister Arjun Munda, the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of Jharkhand Government in combating Maoists. The letter, according to sources, also contained an advisory pointing to the possibility of Maoist-engineered attacks on Police vehicles. The State Government played down the importance and timing of the letter, saying such communications was being sent to States regularly. Chidambaram pointed out Jharkhand had not been able to prevent rampant extortion by, and violence among, Maoist splinter groups.

January 25: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadres killed their former cadre at Jangi-giri in Giridih District. The cadre, identified as Khublal Mandal, recently released from jail after completion of his two-year jail term, was taken away to Jaridih and shot dead by the Maoists. His dead body was recovered in the morning of January 26, the Police said.

January 26: The Police averted a possible CPI-Maoist attack in the State on the Republic Day with the recovery of 32 landmines from a forest in Latehar District. The landmines, each weighing five kilograms, were planted in a row in Laap forest in the District, some 130 kilometres from State capital Ranchi. An unnamed Police officer said the landmines were planted beneath an unpaved road used by Police vehicles.

Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibte Razi urged CPI-Maoist to shut violence. Taking part in the 63rd Republic Day celebrations in Ranchi, the Governor hoisted the national flag and asked the CPI-Maoist to join the mainstream of the society. CM Arjun Munda hoisted the tricolour in the State's second capital Dumka.

January 27: A Policeman, Constable Amitabh Barla, was killed and his friend was seriously injured after suspected cadres of the PLFI, a break away faction of the CPI-Maoist opened fire on them at a marriage party in a Ranchi village in Ranchi District. Constable Amitabh Barla died on the spot after being shot from close range. SP (rural) Asim Vikrant Minj said that it was because of "personal rivalry" that Barla was attacked by suspected PLFI cadres. Barla is known to have links with the Jitendra Nayak gang active in the region before joining the Police Force in 2009. "He was a member of the nexus led by Nayak and worked against the Jainath Sahu gang," Minj said.

The CPI-Maoist cadres fired at a make-shift camp of the SFs, triggering a gun battle at Barwadih in Latehar District. However, there was no report of any loss of life, Latehar SP Kranti Kumar said, adding the two sides were exchanging fire intermittently. The encounter followed a special drive launched by the District Police and the CRPF in the stronghold areas of the Maoists in Maoist-infested parts of the District, Kumar said.

Maoist splinter group, the JPC, hoisted an inverted national flag in Palamu District to mark their protest as the country celebrated the 63rd Republic Day. Cadres of the JPC chose the occasion to raise protest against Government apathy by hoisting two national flags, one of which was inverted. "We would have had jobs had we reaped the benefits of freedom. We would not have been compelled to choose the path of violence. Maoists are hoisting black flags. So we are respecting the tricolour flag and rejecting the black flag, all children in the area are hoisting the tricolour," said Avinash, a JPC leader.

January 28: Anti-CPI-Maoist operations were halted for a day in the hope that the Maoists would release abducted Policeman Suresh Ram, who has not returned home after the January 22, 2012 landmine blast in Jharkhand's Garhwa District. The operations were halted for a day after Ram's family made a request on the basis of media reports that he would be released if they were halted, Garhwa SP Michael S Raj told the reporters in Garhwa.

The Ranchi Police arrested six PLFI cadres, including PLFI 'leader' Aditya Kumar Gope from Pandra Bazar in the District. Gope was wanted in a number of cases registered with the Gumla Police; antecedents of his aides are yet to be verified. "We suspect all five members of his group - Mantu Kumar Singh, Kundan Kumar Chandravanshi, Rahul Dayal, Vishal Kumar and Nadim Ansari -to have links with the PLFI," said city SP Ranjit Prasad. Gope was identified as a wanted criminal who was released on bail recently," Prasad said. The Police recovered one SUV and one stolen motorcycle from their possession.

Five Maoists surrendered before the Khunti Police in Khunti District. Khunti SDPO Ashwini Kumar said that Maoist Ranjit Bodra and PLFI cadre Sundar Pahan alias Nageshwar were in contact with Khunti SP Tamil Vanan and were convinced to surrender with two Maoists - Rohit Oraon and Narua Tirky of Nagri - whereas PLFI activist Arjun Singh surrendered with Pahan who was accused in many cases of arson, abduction and killing. Pahan was designated as area commander of the banned PLFI. The Naxalites also surrendered four single barrel guns, one 9mm pistol, live cartridges and five landmines weighing between 15-20 kilogrammes.

January 30: The SFs recovered a landmine under the road from Manoharpur to Digha in West Singhbhum District, the venue of Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh's visit. The landmine weighing around 15 kilograms was placed at the centre of the road, around 3.5 kilometres away from the venue in Salai village.

Union Rural Development Minister Ramesh released funds of INR 2.5 billion rupees for 'Saranda Action Plan' (SAP). The Action Plan which was prepared after recovering the area from the CPI-Maoist in 2011, targets 900 square kilometres of the Saranda forest range in West Singhbhum District of the State. Speaking to the media, Ramesh said that Maoists will be defeated with development, security and political participations of the people.

January 31: The SFs neutralised a CPI-Maoist bunker and a training camp in Latehar District. Latehar SP Kranti Kumar said the bunker and the training camp were neutralised during search operation by CRPF and the Police near Lawarnuri village under Barwadih Police Station. The SFs recovered explosives and other materials from there, SP Kranti Kumar added.

The Police recovered 150 double detonator boosters, which are used in exploding landmine blasts, near Koradag-Tolsandih village under Bundu Police Station in Ranchi District. The Police also recovered two country-made revolvers, one pistol, a gun and one 15 kilogrammes can bomb from there, the Police said.

February 1: Three Policemen, including an ASI, were killed and five others got injured when CPI-Maoist cadres triggered a landmine blast near an under-construction diversion on National Highway-99 close to Balumath Police Station in Latehar District. The Policemen were going in two jeeps from Chandwa to Balumath, around 75 kilometres from Ranchi. Since it was dark and the Maoists continued to fire at regular intervals it was difficult for the SFs to launch a rescue operation. The condition of one of the injured is said to be serious.

The SFs neutralised a Maoist training camp and four bunkers at different places in the Saniya forest in Latehar District and recovered a huge cache of explosives, Maoist literature, uniform, slings, detonators, ready-to-eat-food and food grain from the training camp and bunkers. The recoveries include 12 Chinese grenades and 36 IED, 100 kilograms of gun powder kept in two bags, a couple of country-made pistols and equal number of rifles. Around 1,400-metre wire, a detonating cord generally used in mining, electric wire and detonators were also recovered during the operation. "The amount of ready-to-eat-food and food grain seized from the training camp and bunkers show that at least 50 rebels used to stay there," said a source.

February 2: The bodyguard of the Garhwa zilla parishad chairperson, Suresh Ram, was released after being held captive by the CPI-Maoist cadres since January 21. The Maoists handed Ram over to human rights activist Shashi Bhushan Pathak who was requested to mediate in the matter.

February 3: The Jharkhand Police found the CPI-Maoist making profits from illegal coal trade through private coal companies when they conducted raids on companies in Bokaro District. "After watching their work for 12 days, Police conducted raids on three private coal companies and seized 2000 tonne of illegally dumped coal," DIG LP Singh said. Stating that the companies were situated near Maoist-affected areas near Lugu Pahar at Jhumra Hills, he said the Maoists were indulged in illegal coal trade allegedly through these companies. However, there were no arrests yet as the Police is still trying find the owners of the company.

February 4: The CRPF personnel recovered two IEDs during search operation planted by the CPI-Maoist in East Singhbhum District The IEDs were strategically planted at separate places at Chaukila and Mushabani with an aim to target the Police, SDPO Naresh Kumar said.

February 5: The CRPF personnel in the CPI-Maoist-hit area of Bundu District organized a community-policing programme to win the confidence of local people. The strategy has been adopted to bridge the gap between SFs and the public, especially youths, who are easily lured by the Maoist cadres. Residents from eight villages of the area were provided agricultural equipment, fogging machine, anti-malaria medicine, medicated mosquito nets, water filter and sports items as part of the civic action programme.

The Bokaro Police launched a massive hunt in an effort to check monetary flow to the Maoists from illegal coal-miners. In the past few days, the Police have seized around 2,200 tons of illegal coal from different places in Chandankyari and Nawadih areas of Bokaro District. The Police sources said a large part of the earnings from illegal coal mining went to Maoists. In case the miners defy the diktat of the Maoists, their business operations stopped. "Every year, at least INR 20-30 million goes to the Maoists and other Maoist groups from illegal mining in the area," said a source.

February 6: A fresh offensive against Maoists has been launched in Latehar District and it is being led by zonal IG Rezi Dungdung. As many as 15 to 20 companies (about 1500 to 2,000 personnel) of CRPF and State Police are taking part in the operations, Police sources said. The operation follows intelligence input about a large Maoists presence in the area. According to sources, the SF personnel had moved deep into the forests in and around Balumath and Manika Police Stations areas. Simultaneous operations are on in Saryu, Kone and Oreya area.

February 7: About 25 suspected cadres of the TPC, a break away faction of the CPI-Maoist, stalled the ongoing construction work of Tahley diversion on the Garhwa-Daltonganj road and shut down a brick kiln located near the Tahley river in Garhwa District. At both places, the TPC cadres assaulted the persons engaged in work. They also robbed of six cell phones from the labourers.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said that despite alarming escalation in CPI-Maoist violence in Jharkhand, no serious effort has been made by the State Government to deal with the LWE. In a letter to Chief Minister Arjun Munda, Chidambaram said Jharkhand became the most affected State in Naxal violence in 2011 and the situation there was a "major cause for concern". He asked Munda to galvanise the State Police leadership to take more pro-active steps. "Anti-Naxal operations in 2011 have been unfortunately ineffective. No serious efforts appear to have been made to launch a counter offensive when security forces personnel were killed by the CPI (Maoist)," Chidambaram said in the recent letter. Further, Jharkhand is the only LWE-affected State which has reported more snatching of arms in 2011 compared to the previous year. "Two top CPI (Maoist) leaders - Prashanto Bose alias Kishan da and Mihir Besra - are very active in the State, according to intelligence reports," the letter said. Chidambaram told Munda that the increase in Maoist activities were manifested by the alarming increase in the number of 'Jan Adalats' (so called people's courts) - 53 in 2011 compared to 25 in 2010. Through these Jan Adalats, the extremists have created a wave of terror amongst the people by publicly punishing those who 'disobey' their 'writ' in the State, he said.

February 10: An exchange of fire took place between the SF personnel and the CPI-Maoist cadres at Patung in West Singhbhum District. The incident took place after the Maoists opened fire on SF personnel, who were on long-range patrolling in the Maoist-dominated pockets. However, no casualties were reported from either side.

Three cadres of the PLFI, a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, including an 'area commander', were arrested from Dhodhtritoli under Raidih Police Station in Gumla District. Gumla SP Jatin Narwal said the arrested PLFI cadres have been identified as 'area commander' Durjan Singh, Surendra Pal Singh and Bandhan Oraon - all residents of the same Police Station areas of the District. "Police recovered a country-made pistol, eight sim cards, a cell phone and four live bullets besides a dairy containing names of the persons from whom PLFI activists extorted levy," said the SP.

February 11: The SFs arrested five LWEs and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition in separate operations from across Gumla District. "We have arrested Durjan Singh, who is an agent of the banned outfit PLFI and was dreaded in several areas. In another incident, we have also taken into custody two criminals who had come here to kill a witness. We have also seized arms from them. We arrested them after they fired at us following a chase," Gumla SP Jatin Narwal said.

February 13: The two-day joint operation against the CPI-Maoist by the CRPF and District Police in the Pipra area, close to Bihar border, ended forcing the Maoists to escape.

February 16: Around 50 cadres of the JJSM, a splinter group of the CPI-Maoist, attacked the Tori railway siding of the CCL in Latehar District.

Garhwa District Police arrested five cadres of the JPC, a splinter group of the CPI-Maoist, and recovered a country-made gun, seven cell phones, 12 sim cards and hand-written pamphlets from them. The arrested JPC cadres are identified as Ravi Kumar, Sanoj Kumar and Kamlesh Kumar, residents of Majhigawan village, and Bimlesh Yadav and Lal Chand Yadav, both from Honhey village of Ranka.

February 17: Anup Bhuyan, an alleged cadre of JJP, a LWE group, was killed by the CPI-Maoist cadres in Latehar District. Bhuyan was picked up by the Maoists from his house at Kurungkhata village under Manika Police Station and shot dead, the Police said.

Maoists exchanged fire with cadres of the PLFI, a splinter group of the CPI-Maoist, for about two hours at Karamtoli in Gumla District. However, there was no report of any casualty.

CPI-Maoist reportedly called a state-wide bandh in protest against the alleged killing of a deaf and mute youth by a CRPF troopers engaged in anti-Naxalite operations in Latehar forests.

Jharkhand Governor, Syed Ahmed expressed concern over LWE in the State and stressed the importance of curbing it.

February 18: The armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist abducted six labourers engaged in construction of a road under the PMGSY at Bengabad, under Bengawar Police Station near Baghmara in Giridih District. Rampati Kushwaha, the contractor of the Parditand-Sariya road project, said that a group of about 100 armed Maoists reached the makeshift camp shortly before midnight where the labourers were resting with their families and set ablaze four vehicles of the project and later, the Maoists abducted the six workers - identified as Nirmal Singh, Congress Das, Pravin Verma, Umesh Singh, Alam Ansari and Siraj Ansari - all from neighbouring Bihar at gunpoint.

February 20: The TPC, a splinter group of the CPI-Maoist pasted posters in Balumath area of Latehar District, warning the upcoming power plants of dire consequences if they did not stop felling trees and give adequate compensation to the displaced families. The rebels pasted posters at Balumath to send a message to the displaced families to come forward for help from the organization.

February 21: The CPI-Maoist cadres released all the six labourers they had abducted in the night of February 18, the Giridih Police said. Giridih SP Arun G Onkar denied any ransom paid to the Maoists.

February 22: A total of 1300 powerful detonators were seized from a truck at Padma area on the NH-33 in Hazaribagh District. The driver and cleaner of the truck were arrested. The Police were investigating whether the consignment was meant for the Maoists.

The UMHA asked the State Government to identify top-five CPI-Maoist leaders active in the State and intensify operations in Saranda forests in West Singhbhum District. The directives were issued by UHM P. Chidambaram during a meeting of Chief Secretaries and Directors- General of Police of the Naxal-affected States in New Delhi.

February 23: Cadres of the CPI-Maoist fired indiscriminately at Balumath Police Station and a nearby camp of SF personnel in Latehar, leaving a man dead. The man was sleeping on the roadside when he was hit by a bullet fired by attacking Maoists. The Maoists were forced to retreat after retaliatory action by the SF personnel. No casualties have been reported from either side.

The Maoists blew up the vacant house of panchayat member, Rajendra Sahu in Latehar District.

February 25: The cadres of the PLFI, a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, killed a schoolboy and his grandfather in Khunti District. According to Police, the PLFI cadres attacked the house of B.Y. Toppo, situated in Thunku village in the District, around 45 kilometres from Ranchi. The PLFI cadres killed the two of them and set their house on fire.

February 27: The one-day bandh called by the CPI-Maoist in all the 24 Districts of the State was largely peaceful. The bandh was called by the Maoists who are not in favour of changes in the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT).

February 28: Five top cadres of the CPI-Maoist, including four accused in the January 21 Bariganwa landmine blast that killed 13 Policemen, were arrested from Chatania and Parswar villages during a three-day anti-naxal operation in Garhwa District. The arrestees were identified as Arjun Yadav alias Arjan, Mohan Yadav, Surendra Prasad, Manish Prasad Gupta and Deb Sagar Yadav. All of them belong to Garhwa District and are wanted in murder and kidnapping incidents in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, SP Michael S Raj said.

March 3: Five cadres of the CPI-Maoist, including a woman, were arrested from a forest in Arki in Khunti District during a joint operation by the Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers. Four firearms, including a rifle, along with ammunition and some Maoist literature, including books on Maoist ideology and posters and a map of CRPF camp were recovered from them.

Two top Maoists, active in Jhumra since last 10 years, were arrested in another joint operation near Konar dam at Jamnijara village in Gomia block in Bokaro District. The arrested Maoists have been identified as Jatu Manjhi alias Nilamber and Naresh Manjhi alias Suresh. They both are residents of Simrabeda village of Gomia and close to Maoist leaders Navin Manjhi and Mithilesh Singh and are members of armed squad of the outfit.

The 197 battalion of CRPF recovered an Improvised Explosive Device hidden in a tiffin box and wires near an iron-ore loading point of Kiriburu railway station in West Singhbhum District.

12 villagers who were abducted by a group of 30-40 Maoists on March 2, were freed after holding them captive for more than 12 hours, at Keri Piprahi forest of Chouparan block in Hazaribagh District.

March 5: Four suspected cadres of the CPI-Maoist were killed and a CISF officer was injured in an encounter in the Central Coal Fields' Ashok project, close to the Pipawar Police Station in Chatra District. Police identified the dead as Tapeswar Ganju and Anil Ram. Two rifles, two hand grenades, two IEDs, two walkie-talkies and cartridges were recovered from the spot.

Bishnu Munda, a cadre of the PLFI, a break away faction of the CPI-Maoist, was arrested from Dwarseni village in Gumla District. A country-made pistol and Naxal-literature were recovered from him, he added.

March 9: The house of a 'zonal commander' of the CPI-Maoist was set ablaze at Kusmai village in Chatra District. A group of armed men went to the house of the Maoist, Dharmendra Yadav, asked the members to vacate their house before setting it on fire, the Police said. The arsonists also looted some property before setting ablaze the house, the sources said.

March 13: The CPI-Maoist cadres triggered two simultaneous land-mine blasts, targeting the vehicle carrying troopers of the IRB, at Tailyadeeh Mor in Chhatarpur block of Palamu District. ASP operations, Ronald Hansda, said the blasts at 12.24pm badly damaged the front portion of the vehicle, in which more than six IRB personnel were on their way to Devnar where an encounter had taken place between SFs and the Maoists at 9.45am. The IRB troopers, who were part of the reinforcement team, escaped unhurt.

March 17: A joint team of District Police and CRPF arrested CPI-Maoist 'sub-zonal commander' Phoolchand Soren alias Praveel Da, who was wanted in over 32 cases and carried a reward of INR 300, 000 on his head, along with his accomplice Bahdur Turi in a raid at Jamania village in Nawadih District. The joint team recovered one country-made revolver, cartridges, mobile handset, dairy and INR 2,300 cash from them.

March 19: The SF personnel recovered an IED, weighing five kilograms, hidden in milk can near Hutar village on Barwadih-Morbai road in Latehar District. Latehar SP G. Kranti Kumar confirming the recovery said, "It was defused within minutes and with that an attempt by Maoists to target security personnel was averted."

March 22: Cadres of the JJP, a splinter group of CPI-Maoist, reportedly attacked a railway construction site camp near Dhodhorha Pool at Dubang village in Lohardaga District, injuring more than four workers and technicians.

Two Maoist top cadres who had masterminded the killing of Bihar Policeman Lucas Tete (September 3, 2010) were arrested from Tisri forests under Belatand Police Station in Giridih District during a joint operation of the Police and CRPF.

March 23: The Police in Gumla District arrested three men with large quantities of explosives, detonators, arms and ammunition which were to be sold to the CPI-Maoist cadres in the State. Gumla District SP Jatin Narwal said: "We have recovered four weapons from these three accused. We have also recovered ammunition, 30 gelatin sticks, 100 kilograms ammonium nitrate and 130 detonators. This way we have recovered quite a good amount of explosives and arms and ammunitions".

March 30: A Koderma Police team foiled an attempt made by the CPI-Maoist cadres to enter the Hazaribagh District through Rajwar forest under Satgawan Police Station. The Police later arrested a Maoist, identified as Ranjit Razak alias Pramod hailing from the Lakhisarai District of Bihar, after a massive exchange of fire between the Maoists and the Police. The Police recovered two rifles, 175 live cartridges, three cell phone and several military uniforms from him.

March 31: The Jharkhand and West Bengal Police launched a combing operation in East Singhbhum District on the border between two States on information that a Maoist squad was in the area. "We have launched a massive combing operation jointly with the CRPF at Amdapahari under Naxal-hit Patamda Police Station bordering West Bengal for the Maoist squad," SSP Akhilesh Kumar Jha said. The Jharkhand Police was engaged in the operation in the State and the West Bengal Police was combing in the bordering area of Bandwan in Purulia District.

April 2: Pradeep Oraon (35), a former CPI-Maoist cadre was gunned down by cadres of the PLFI, a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, in Duko village under Ghaghra Police Station in Gumla District. According to Police, Pradeep, formerly with CPI-Maoist, who later joined PLFI, had formed his own group after parting ways with PLFI some time ago which did not go along with 'area commander' Sukra Oraon and was killed.

April 3: A top CPI-Maoist and self-proclaimed 'area commander' of Jamui-Banka zone, Heera Yadav (40) surrendered before the Police in Giridih District. Yadav surrendered with a rifle, ten cartridges and some money in cash.

April 4: M Sanjeev Singh, a CRPF trooper of the CRPF's 26th Battalion, was injured during an encounter between the SFs and the CPI-Maoist cadres at Bouwa Pahari in Dongapani village under Tundi Police Station in Dhanbad District. The SFs had gone to the spot early in the morning after getting a tip-off about Maoists presence.

The armed cadres of the JPC, a splinter group of CPI-Maoist, set ablaze two bauxite trucks on fire at Modsirwa on Kisko-Richughuta road in Lohardaga District. One of the drivers was also assaulted. In a handwritten pamphlet, one Samir of JPC has claimed responsibility for setting the trucks on fire.

April 5: A constable of CoBRA, Satya Prakash Deswal, succumbed to bullet injuries and Jharkhand Jaguar havildar Sanjay Paswan was injured in an encounter with the CPI-Maoist deep inside the forest in Labhar picket under Burwadih Police Station in Latehar District.

April 6: The SFs recovered four IEDs, including three cylinder bombs, during search operations in Latehar District. The operation was launched in the District's Barwadih and Sarju area following an encounter with the CPI-Maoist cadres on April 5 in which one SF personnel was killed and another was injured.

April 8: Suspected cadres of the PLFI, a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, attacked the project site of the PGCIL at Jargaon village under Bero Police Station in Ranchi District and set ablaze three heavy machines, including an earthmover, after assaulting the workers on duty. The cause of the attack was explained in a letter written by one Jetha of Rajdhani zonal committee of the PLFI, allegedly left at the site, saying that work there was started without the permission of the PLFI.

April 9: Seven SF personnel, engaged in anti-CPI-Maoist operations, sustained bullet injuries at Chemo Sanya forest under the Bhandaria Police Station in Garhwa District.

Palamu IG Deepak K Verma said that the anti-Maoist operation, code named 'Operation Octopus', launched since April 4 in Latehar District would continue. He refused to divulge any detail about the duration and the areas that would be covered under Operation 'Octopus'.

April 11: Suspected cadres of the PLFI, a splinter group of the CPI-Maoist, set ablaze three vehicles, including two passenger jeeps and one tractor, near Binda village under Murhu Police Station of Khunti District. The extremists led by 'area commander' Munna stopped two passenger jeeps in the morning and ordered the passengers to alight and set the vehicles afire.

The BSF Helicopter which was fired upon by the CPI-Maoist cadres on April 5 has been grounded now as it was damaged in the firing. The advance light helicopter - Dhruv - used by the CRPF in anti-Maoist operations, which was flying from Latehar to Ranchi with two injured SF personnel, had landed safely though. As reported earlier, an encounter had taken place between Maoists and the SFs in Latehar District on April 5.

April 13: The East Singhbhum District Police recovered posters and banners, allegedly put up by the CPI-Maoist, demanding hike in tendu leaves procurement rate and support to the two-day bandh call given by CPI-Maoist in the bordering areas of three States, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand from April 14 midnight. The posters and banners were found in two different Police Station areas of Ghatshila Sub-Division - Chakulia and Dhalbhumgarh.

Police arrested Jetha Lorenz Toppo, a 'self-styled zonal commander' of PLFI, a splinter group of the CPI-Maoist, in Ranchi District. The Police recovered a carbine from his possession.

April 15: The two-day bandh called by the CPI-Maoist in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha affected the State's public transport. The bandh was called to demand 20 per cent increase in the rate of kendu leaves.

April 16: Speaking at the Chief Minister’s meeting on internal security chaired by Prime Minister in New Delhi CM Arjun Munda asked the Central Government to bear a portion of the cost of modernization of Jharkhand Police to help it effectively tackle Naxalism in the state. UHM P. Chidambaram has agreed to give Jharkhand two Indian Air Force choppers to combat LWE in Jharkhand.

Speaking at the meeting of Chief Ministers in New Delhi, Chief Minister Arjun Munda demanded a special development package for CPI-Maoist-hit Latehar and Garhwa Districts in the line of ongoing Centre-sponsored Saranda Development Plan.

April 17: The two-day CPI-Maoist bandh called to raise procurement price of kendu leaves - used to make beedi - affected life in rural areas Jharkhand, especially in bordering areas of West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The Maoists had called a two-day bandh that ended at April 16 midnight in the three States – Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

April 19: Three CPI-Maoist cadres involved in the killing of a SPO were arrested from Badraiya forest in West Singhbhum District. The SF personnel also recovered a 30 kilogram claymore mine planted beneath a kutcha road in the forest. All the three cadres were involved in the killing of SPO Sushil Aian in Chotanagra in February 2012.

April 20: The SFs arrested Maoist leader Bitka Marandi alias Bitka Manjhi from Harli forest in Churchu tehsil in Hazaribagh District. Manjhi was wanted by Police for killing 13 SF personnel including 11 CRPF troopers in 2001.

April 21: An armed group of the CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze 10 vehicles belonging to a private construction company and held 14 of its employees hostage for sometime in Bandguda in Giridih District.

April 22: CM Arjun Munda laid the foundation stone for a building to house the 40^th Battalion of ITBP at Sukuruhutu, on the outskirts of Ranchi. The new location of ITBP would help providing logistic and administrative support to units/formations of the ITBP in North-East and Maoist-affected states, an ITBP release said.

April 28: A dozen inter-state buses plying from Rourkela to Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh remained suspended in the wake of the CPI-Maoist-48-hour bandh. There was, however, little or no impact at the vulnerable areas of Sundargarh District, close to Saranda forest in Jharkhand.

April 29: A Police team of the Bishnugarh Police Station arrested a top Maoist cadre, identified as Shiv Charan Manjhi, along with arms in Hazaribag District during raids in the dense forests near Konar Dam. Maoist literature, posters and arms, including revolver, six live cartridges, was recovered from him.

April 30: A ‘sub-zonal commander’ of the CPI-Maoist, identified as Mohit alias Manoj Yadav, was arrested from Matauli village in Palamu District. The Police recovered 105 live cartridges and a landmine weighing 10 kilograms.

May 3: A former ‘squad commander’ of the CPI-Maoist, identified as Sandeep Mishra, was arrested by the Police from Nagfeni on NH-23 in Gumla District. Mishra joined the outfit in 2001 and remained a part of it till 2009. Despite parting with the organization he was in regular touch with Maoist leaders Buddheshwar Oraon and Vishwanath.

May 6: Deputy inspector general (DIG) of coal belt region, Laxman Prasad Singh, and his CRPF counterpart, Rajeev Ranjan, conducted aerial surveillance of CPI-Maoist-hit Jhumra hills where SF personnel have recently launched Operation Thunder in search of Maoists. This was the third day of the anti-Maoist search operation in the area led by Bokaro Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Dwivedi under Gomia block. More than 1,000 district police personnel, Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP) and CRPF personnel have been pressed into action to carry out the operation.

Karnataka

January 5: The Karnataka DGP Shankar Bidari said that as many as 100 youth, mostly tribals, from Karkala, Sringeri, Tirthahalli and Beltangadi regions would be recruited into the Police to combat CPI-Maoist cadres in the Western Ghats. Nearly 30 youth from Karkala, Tirthahalli and Sringeri region and around 10 from Beltangadi region would be recruited by March 2012. Priority would be given to tribals in recruitment as they had knowledge of the forests.

The Karnataka Government offered INR 300,000 solatium to the family of Sadashiva Gowda, who was allegedly gunned down by the CPI-Maoist in Hebri forests on December 28.

January 6: The cadres of the CPI-Maoist engaged the ANF personnel in an exchange of fire in Barkana Falls region near Agumbe in Shimoga District. No casualties were reported from either side. The suspected Maoists fled the spot after the firing. Following the incident, the Police have intensified the combing operations in the forest around Agumbe and Mastikatte. The Police had tip-off on the movement of the armed group in the forest around Agumbe and Malandur. A team of ANF personnel from Agumbe camp had stayed in Malandur in the previous night anticipating the visit of Maoists to the village. During combing operations in the surrounding forest on Friday, ANF personnel had noticed suspected Maoists camping near Barkana Falls.

January 9: In a letter received by certain local dailies in Udupi District, a person who claimed himself to be Vishwa representing the CPI-Maoist, confirmed that they were involved in the killing of Sadashiva Gowda (50) near Kabbinale Tingalamatti in Karkala. The letter however, claims that they had not tortured Gowda as reported by the media.

At the Karnataka State Senior Police Officers' Annual Meeting, chaired by chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda, DGP, Shankar M. Bidari said that only 30 cadres of the CPI-Maoist are operating in the State. "We will ensure that Karnataka is free of naxals by 2012-end," he said. He also added that the intelligence network in Maoist- affected areas had been strengthened and would show results soon.

Speaking at the Karnataka State Senior Police Officers' Annual Meeting held at the Police chief's office, Karnataka CM, D.V Sadanand Gowda observed that there was no co-ordination between the Anti-Maoist Force and the local Police. "If they work together, better results can be expected. We have plans to depute young and energetic staff to the ANF," he added. Home Minister, R. Ashok said that the Maoist activities in the State were curbed and there was information that supari killers from Tamil Nadu were operating with the CPI-Maoist.

January 12: A gang of CPI-Maoist cadres visited Nadpal village near Hebri in Udupi District and collected food- stuffs, grains etc from some houses there. The gang had nine members including two women.

January 13: The Karnataka Government decided to hire qualified locals on contract basis to fill vacancies in nine taluks, where there is "Naxal activity", as "fearful" Government servants transferred there have refused to join. Briefing reporters after a Cabinet meeting, chaired by CM, D V Sadananda Gowda. Law Minister, S Suresh Kumar said there are vacant posts in different Government departments (in these nine taluks) as officials transferred there are hesitating to report. "This has resulted in adverse impact on administration and development," he said. The nine taluks in the three Districts of Tumkur, Chikmagalur and Udupi are: Karkala, Kundapura, Sringeri, Mudigere, Koppa, Hosanagara, Tirthahalli, Beltangadi and Pavagada, where 107 villages and 709 sub-villages have been "identified" for Naxal activity. He said the nine taluks have not been declared as Maoist affected and Government employees willing to go those places on transfer would be given first priority.

January 27: The CPI-Maoist cadres from Tamil Nadu have reportedly infiltrated Karnataka and are strengthening the hands of their comrades in Agumbe region of Udupi District, according to a recent intelligence report. According to Police sources, there has been no new recruitment of local people in the CPI-Maoist in Karnataka. "We have been keeping track of villagers in the Naxal-affected districts and no one in the last two years has gone missing or has been abducted by the Maoists," said an officer from Udupi. On January 6, in a fire exchange between the ANF and the Maoists in Barkana Falls region near Agumbe in Udupi District, the ANF for the first time found Maoist literature in Tamil from the site where the Maoist cadres were camping in the forest. Till then, the Police believed that a majority of the Maoist cadres in Karnataka were from the Malekudiya tribe from the Kudremukh National Park area.

January 28: Cadres of the CPI-Maoist should give up their guns as the State Government is ready to rehabilitate and provide employment to them, said State Home Minister R Ashok at a function in Mangalore. He remarked, "As guns will not yield anything, naxals should bid goodbye to arms. The government has been providing packages to the naxal-affected areas. Considering this, naxals should surrender." Compared to other states, Maoist activity is less in Karnataka. Only in some places such as Chikmagalur and Udupi Districts, are they in operation, he clarified, when reporters sought to know why the Union Government has not marked Karnataka as a Maoist affected State.

February 6: State Home Minister R Ashoka said that those CPI-Maoist cadres who want to surrender would be given a compensation of INR 100,000 and a loan of INR 100,000 from a co-operative society to ensure they are self-employed. If the Maoists surrender their weapons, the government will pay the worth of the weapons to them.

State Home minister R Ashoka said that there are 15-20 cadres of CPI-Maoist in Karnataka and a survey had been taken up to identify their antecedents. The Home minister added that the State has a unit of 500 Police constables and 80 commandos to combat them. He added that another team of commandos was undergoing training. Further, he informed that the office of the head of ANF would be shifted to Karkala from Bangalore.

February 10: The Maoists from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and other States often use the Karnataka a hideout. Karnataka, which claimed to have ended the menace of CPI-Maoist, has a fresh problem on its hands. CPI-Maoist cadres from Tamil Nadu have reportedly infiltrated the jungles of the Western Ghats since January 2012. The ANF, during its routine combing operations, came across Maoist literature in Tamil Nadu at an abandoned Maoist camp in Udupi District recently. The Maoists were first spotted in the State in 1998 in Kudremukh National Park.

February 29: The second JMFC court, through a judgment delivered, absolved six youth, who had been arrested by Policemen of Doddapet Police Station in Shimoga District in 2009, on charges of being involved with the CPI-Maoist activities. Anita, Jagannath, Devendrappa, Asha, Gangamma, and Mallesh, had been arrested on the allegation of being suspected Maoists, and getting involved with illegal activities.

March 9: The Karnataka Rajya ABSS State convener, P Bharath demanded that journalism student Vittal Malekudiya and Linganna, who were recently arrested on the charges of abetting CPI-Maoist, should be released immediately as "the duo did not support Naxalism."

March 10: The ANF and DP reportedly exchanged fire with 20 to 25 CPI-Maoist cadres at Mittabagilu in Bolle forest in Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada District during a combing operation. One Police constable Sadashiva Choudhary (25) of Jamkhandi taluk in Bagalkot District got injured in the exchange of fire. The ANF also found 10 separate camps set up by Maoists, spread over a large uneven patch of land. With the exception of one or two camps, one camp could not be sighted from the other. Each camp also contained ammunition and weapons, including 140 rounds of SLR ammunition, 30 grenades, a U.S. made auto pistol and a double-barrel rifle.

March 11: The ANF recovered literature in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. The recovered items also included training manuals, bags, clothes, rations such as rice and sugar, audio recorder, laptop bag, radio and clothes.

March 14: Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda warned stringent action against CPI-Maoist cadres operating in the Malnad region of the State. Steps would also be taken to provide basic amenities to people in the Maoist affected areas, Gowda added.

March 16: The Police took into custody a person named Vijay Kadamane from Kolli village in Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada District for questioning. They suspect that Vijay had extended support to CPI-Maoist cadres in holding programme at Malavantige village.

March 26: State Home Minister R. Ashok told the Karnataka Legislative Council that some Sri Lankans have joined the CPI-Maoist cadres operating in the five Districts of the State. The Minister said there are an estimated 25 to 30 Maoists in Karnataka. "Most of them are those who have come from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Sri Lanka," he noted.

April 12: As a part of its carrot-and-stick policy in the fight against the CPI-Maoist cadres in Karnataka, DGP, A R Infant said the that the Maoist surrender package would be made more attractive to enable misguided youths rejoin social mainstream.

April 16: LWE is steadily increasing in the five Districts of Karnataka, Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said demanding support from the Centre in training and provision of infrastructure to tackle it.

April 20: The ANF and cadres of the CPI-Maoist exchanged fire in Panjalbetta of Kuthlur village in Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada District during routine combing operations by the ANF. The Maoist group allegedly opened fire on the ANF team, who retaliated. The Maoist group then escaped, he said. No one was injured.

Madhya Pradesh

January 22: The Police recovered detonators, grenade and explosive material from the CPI-Maoist-affected forest area near Balaghat District. Acting on a tip-off, a Police team reached the forest area under Sulsuli Police Post and recovered two hand-grenades, two detonators, four pencil cell and 2.5 kg high grade explosive hidden inside a pit, IG UR Netam and Sachin Atulkar told media persons. It appears the Maoists were planning to execute a blast in the District, he said, adding the Police have intensified search operation in the area.

February 1: An exchange of fire took place between the CPI-Maoist cadres and the Police at Ghagra village in Balaghat District. Acting on a tip off that a meeting of Maoists of Davari Dalam of Gadchiroli District, was taking place at Lodhiwara village, close to Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra border, the Hawk Force personnel rushed to Ghagra village - a transit route to Chhattisgarh and waited the whole night in the thick of the forest to ambush Maoist dalam, Balaghat IG UR Netam said. However, the Maoists got wind of the ambush plan of the Police as a trained country dog accompanying the Maoists barked at the hiding Police. Alerted, the Maoists escaped to Chhattisgarh even as they kept firing at the Police.

April 24: A group of 20 to 25 CPI-Maoist cadres, including four women, allegedly set ablaze a JCB machine in a bid to stop the construction of a 13 kilometres road stretch under the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojna at Gaighat under Hatta Police Station in Balaghat District. The Maoists left behind a pamphlet stating that Ganpath Patel, the contractor hired for the construction of road, was a Police mole and had betrayed people. The leaflet stated that the cutting of trees for road construction was prohibited as the Maoists were against development works in forest.

April 27: The Madhya Pradesh Police Headquarters deployed two teams of SAF to the CPI-Maoist-infested Balaghat District in view of increased Maoist activities in the region. IG Anvesh Mangalam will deal with the situation.

Maharashtra

January 7: CPI-Maoist cadres killed a 47-year-old civilian, Suresh Erra Alam, in Nandigaon village in Aheri tehsil of Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra. “Suresh Erra Alam was picked up by Naxals from his house in the night and was taken to a place near the village, where he was stabbed in the chest with a sharp weapon,” ASP Sudhir Hire math said.

January 11: A group of CPI-Maoist cadres opened fire on a Police team in Gadchiroli District, Police said. The team, consisting of personnel from C-60, a special anti-Naxal unit, came under fire while patrolling near Kosni village in Etepalli taluka, they said. The police promptly returned the fire and the encounter lasted for 15 to 20 minutes, but there was no report of any casualty on either side, they said. The entire area has been cordoned off and a search launched to arrest the Maoists, the Police added.

January 12: An alleged CPI-Maoist cadre was killed during an encounter with the Police in Bezarpalli area in Sironcha taluka of Gadchiroli District. The shoot-out between a group of Maoists and a Police platoon lasted about 45 minutes before the Maoists fled, said the Police. A body of a Maoist was recovered from the site. The Police also claimed that at least four to five Maoists must have been wounded seriously. The Police also recovered a 303 rifle, a country-made pistol and 29 rounds besides a grenade.

January 17: The SFs have claimed that the CPI-Maoist cadre shot dead on January 12 in an encounter near Beijurpalli in Gadchiroli District was Mangru Michcha, alias Linga (22), 'sectional commander' of Platoon 14. The slain Maoist allegedly led the military wing in the Aheri-Sironcha division of the CPI-Maoist. Miccha was earlier with Bhamragarh local guerrilla squad and worked for platoon 7. Police said that there were around 20 offences against Miccha.

January 28: CPI-Maoist struck a blow to the Zilla Parishad polls in Gadchiroli District by killing the Bhamragarh Panchayat Samiti Chairman and Bhamragarh tehsil Congress Unit Chief Bahadurshah Alam. Three members of Maoists' Quick Action Team came to a tea stall in the town square where Alam was having his morning tea and shot him dead from close range, said the Police. They ran away shouting, "Alam Murdabad, Lal Salaam Zindabad". "He was reportedly warned by the Naxals not to contest. We had also recovered pamphlets that called him as a traitor," said SP Veeresh Prabhu.

A high ranking Naxal leader, Maruti Kurwatkar (31), was arrested from Talodhi in Chandrapur District by a Special Team. Kurwatkar was a member of the CPI-Maoist State Committee and Secretary of Chandrapur Committee of CPI-Maoist.

February 1: The Police recovered a small cache of arms and ammunition along with electronic equipments, which on assembling could help make explosive devices, in two separate raids in villages Talodhi-Balapur and Bolegaon. The first raid was carried out at the residence of one Mithun Surpam in Talodhi-Balapur village on the basis of information given by CPI-Maoist cadre Maruti Kurwatkar (31), who was arrested on January 28. The recoveries included a small laptop, a USB pen drive, a computer hard disc, electronic fuses, transistor divot, rechargeable batteries, two magnetic compass, Maoist' literature along with a book detailing how to handle the explosives. In the second raid, the Police recovered two loaded 9mm pistols from the house of one Prakash Sayam at Bolegaon.

The plans of Maoists to form a dalam in forests of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) seem to have failed due to lack of people's support and patches of villages in the jungles around the area, according to Police sources. Strong evidence of Maoist' plans to constitute a dalam for villages in and around TATR to regain their lost foothold in Chandrapur had surfaced after the arrest of state committee member of CPI-Maoist Bhimrao alias Bhanu alias Bhaskar Bhowate by Gondia Police in December 2010.

A CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Ramamurty Kishtya Boing (38), suspected to be involved in an encounter with Police in Gadchiroli District was arrested from his hideout in Sironcha town of the District. Boing was allegedly engaged in the skirmish with Police on January 12 in Bezarpalli area in which one Maoist was killed. Some Maoist literature was also recovered from his possession, the Police said.

February 7: State Election Commissioner Neela Satyanarayan said in a press release, "A total of 65 per cent voting was recorded in the State. Naxal-affected Gadchiroli District recorded 67 per cent voting." Polling was being conducted in Maharashtra for 27 Zilla Parishads and 305 Panchayat Samitis.

February 12: Two separate incidents of exchange of fire between the cadres of the CPI-Maoist and Police took place in Gadchiroli District. However, no one was injured. According to Police, Maoists opened fire on a polling party near Repanpalli village when it was returning to its base camp. However, security personnel accompanying the polling staff retaliated following which the Maoists fled away, they said, adding the polling staff reached its base-camp safely.

An exchange of fire between the Maoists and Police took place near Ghotsur village in Etapalli Taluka of the District, but no one was injured. The second phase polling in Aheri, Etapalli, Bhamragad and Sironcha Taluka for 16 Zilla Parishad and 32 Panchayat Samiti seats was held on February 12. Maoists had appealed people in the region to boycott the polls and had dropped posters in this regard at various places.

February 14: Around 40 armed CPI-Maoist cadres threatened 20 truck drivers in Piparkhari village in Gondia District with dire consequences if they transport wood from the forest to the depots.

February 18: Two cadres of the CPI-Maoist surrendered before the Police in Gadchiroli District. The Police identified them as Somi alias Nirmala Lalu Kulmethe (25) and Jagat alias Sukhram Sonu Madavi (19). According to the Police, Somi became a Maoist cadre in 2000, and worked with Aheri, Bhamragarh, Kohkaneta (Chhattisgarh) dalams over the last decade. Jagat was an active Maoist since 2000, and worked in Chhattisgarh. Both of them were involved in a number of crimes and taught in schools run by Maoists in Chhattisgarh, Police said.

February 20: The Police and the CRPF arrested two cadres of the CPI-Maoist, including a woman, at Etapalli in Gadchiroli District. While Prakash alias Devidas alias Adve Mura Gawde (30) hails from Mardahur in Gadchiroli, Rammi alias Janni Narsu Kovase (25) is from Neltola in Pankhajur, Kanker (Chhattisgarh).

February 21: In a joint operation, the anti-Naxal branch of Gondia Police, C-60 commandos, the bomb detection and disposal squad and Gadchiroli Police unearthed 45 kilograms of gelatin and four detonators, packed in a plastic drum and buried about four feet underground in Baswi ghat, about 4 kilometres from Chichgarh Police Station in Gondia District.

February 28: The CPI-Maoist threat is looming large on the rescheduled polls for the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti in Korchi taluka of the highly sensitive Gadchiroli District. Some candidates have reportedly got threatening letters from Maoists asking them not to contest the polls.

March 1: The Police seized several castings, believed to be used by CPI-Maoist cadres for making hand grenades, rockets and other materials used for fabricating rocket launchers, during raids on their weapon fabrication units, being run in the guise of workshops, in Mumbai. The Mumbai Police, who conducted the raids following information furnished by the Andhra Pradesh Police, took into custody four Maoist cadres including two women. The arrestees were identified as Arka Paru Bai alias Laxmi, wife of Chekka Sivaramakrishna (arrested during raids on a Maoist workshop in Bhopal in 2007); Dinesh Wankhede, a Maoist District Committee member of Maharashtra; his wife Kalam Sumanta, and Asim Kumar Bhattacharya. While Arka Parun Bai is a native of Beersaipet of Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh, Dinesh hails from Nagpur and Sumanta from Gadchiroli, Police sources said.

March 10: The Gadchiroli Police busted a CPI-Maoist arms and ammunition factory at Neral in Raigad District. Parts of rocket launchers, guns and magazines were also found besides some damaged pieces and samples.

March 12: State Home Minister R R Patil said that intelligence activity was being beefed up across the State to monitor suspected Maoist movements. He also expressed the need for a special board that would undertake recruitment of Police personnel and provide employment opportunities in Maoist areas as well as deprived areas in the State.

March 15: The CPI-Maoist cadres belonging to Deori Dalam killed a farmer, identified as Jagdish Walwe, in Kawalewada area of Sadak-Arjuni tehsil in Gondia District. SP Chandrakishore Meena said that the deceased had no Maoist links.

March 16: Two constables were injured in an exchange of fire with CPI-Maoist cadres in the Jimalgatta forest in Gadchiroli District. "Around 11 a.m., during the 'area domination exercise,' which we normally do by frequenting hideouts in jungle areas…the constables were shot at unexpectedly in the Jimalgatta jungle. Suresh Gawde, 32, and Kankaiya Durgam, 30, were injured. SP Viresh Prabhu confirmed that a firearm, bullets, detonators and wire along with bulk of clothes, shoes, pittus (back packs), water bottles and Naxal literature were found. "It suggests that Naxals might have been camping at the site," Prabhu said.

March 24: Stressing the need for political parties to mobilise masses into joining them, Union Urban Development Minister Jairam Ramesh urged villagers of Gadchiroli District to bar Naxals from entering their villages "since peace is necessary for development."

March 27: Twelve CRPF troopers belonging to the CRPF's 192nd Battalion were killed and 28 injured when suspected CPI-Maoist cadres triggered a landmine blast at Pushtola village under Dhanora Police Station in Gadchiroli District. A total of 40 troops were travelling in a bus from Pushtola to Gatta, for an operational duty when the blast took place, killing 12 of them, Gadchiroli SP Viresh Prabhu said.

Ramesh Parteti, an aide of CPI-Maoist sympathizer Dilip Nagpure of Pangaon village in Salekasa tehsil, was arrested by the Police in Gondia District. Parteti hails from Marartola village in the District.

March 28: The State Government vowed to give a "befitting reply" to the CPI-Maoist and said the SFs will be equipped with best landmine detection technology. "The best available anti-landmine technology in the world will be brought in," State Home Minister R R Patil told the media.

Roshan Tekam, an aide of CPI-Maoist sympathizer Dilip Nagpure of Pangaon village in Salekasa tehsil, was arrested by the Police in Gondia District. Tekam hails from Murdoli village in the District.

April 2: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadres killed two persons identified as deputy sarpanch Bapu Yenka (60) and Arjana Talandi (55), in Joganguda village under Aheri tehsil in Gadchiroli District, on suspicion of being Police informers. Maoists had reportedly warned them to refrain being close to the Police.

The Gadchiroli Police said that the Naxal dalam 'commanders' manage to raise around INR 50 million to INR 70 million every year by means of extortion and other such activities.

April 3: The death toll in the landmine blast triggered by CPI-Maoist cadres at Pushtola village under Dhanora Police Station in Gadchiroli District on March 27 went up to 13 after a CRPF trooper died in a private hospital in Nagpur. SP Viresh Prabhu said that the Police have so far arrested five persons in connection with the blast case. They hail from Pushtola and Bhapda villages in Gadchiroli District.

April 9: The Maharashtra Police arrested a villager from Pakenjur near Kanker in Chhattisgarh, suspected to be the supplier of the battery that was used in the landmine that killed 13 CRPF personnel in Gadchiroli District on March 26.

April 11: Six suspected CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested in connection with the landmine blast near Gadchiroli District which had claimed the lives of 13 CRPF personnel on March 27. Those arrested were identified as Motiram Naitam, Suresh Atla, Shalik Naitam, Parimal Mistry and Kamal Biswas. One of the six was a minor.

April 12: The CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze four tractors and three trolleys in Keshori tehsil of Gondia District. Around 50 Maoists intercepted four tractors and three trolleys in the forest patch between Rajoli and Keshori and set them afire.

April 13: A CPI-Maoist action squad killed Raju alias Kewalrao Atkamwar (42), a prominent NCP leader, and injured Prashant Kukkalwar, also an NCP worker, barely 300 metres from the Police Station of Etapalli town in Gadchiroli District. According to sources, said Atkamwar, former member of Gadchiroli Zilla Parishad and former Chairman of Etapalli Panchayat Samiti, was on the Maoist hit-list for his proximity to Police.

April 15: A pro-Maoist poster was found pasted on the rear side of the board of Samasta Solapur Bazaar Rickshaw Stand in Pune District. The poster of CPI-Maoist Maharashtra State Committee demanded the release of its Maoist cadres unconditionally. It also called for a bandh in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

April 19: The CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead a SRPF trooper in Gadchiroli District. Ramkobal Ramdavar Pandey (50) of the SRPF group IV, Nagpur, was on escort duty and accompanying an ailing colleague to a local health centre at Fulbodi Gatta village in Dhanora tehsil when a group of Maoists opened fired at him, killing him on the spot.  

April 20: The CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead a former dalam ‘commander’ of the outfit at Arewada village in Bhamragarh tehsil in Gadchiroli District. Pawan Bhalavi (50) was going to his field when the Maoists shot him dead.

April 3^rd week: SG Kawadgade, the tehsildar of Bhamragarh tehsil was abducted and was released after one day by the CPI-Maoist cadres in Gadchiroli District.

April 22: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed sarpanch Chamru Kulle Joi (40) of NCP, in Gardewada village under Etapalli tehsil of Gadchiroli District. Sources claimed that the Maoists abducted Joi and shot him dead.

April 23: Maoists set ablaze a forest vehicle and assaulted the forest labourers in Talwada village on Bhamragarh-Allapalli road in Aheri tehsil in Gadchiroli District. The Maoists also left a pamphlet at the site urging the forest employees and the labourers to discontinue their work of clearing and cutting the jungle or face dreadful consequences.

April 24: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed Rainu Juru Kowse (40), deputy sarpanch of Wangeturi gram panchayat in Todgatta village under Gatta Police outpost in Gadchiroli District. The Maoists dragged Kowse out of his house and killed him in the village square.

Raju Gedam, a C-60 commando was injured in an encounter with Maoists inside Nalgonda forests along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border, under Bhamragad tehsil, in Gadchiroli District. On receiving a tip-off about a Maoist camp, C-60 commandos launched a combing operation in the area. The Maoists triggered a mine blast in which Raju Gedam was injured. Two claymore mines, a pipe-bomb, wire, detonator and other material used by the Maoists were recovered from the encounter site.

April 25: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed two of their former cadres who had surrendered in 2006, in Dhanora tehsil in Gadchiroli District. The victims have been identified as Devrao Usendi (37) and Ramsai Narote (45).

The Maoists have abducted at least 12 villagers. However, SP S Veeresh Prabhu denied any abduction.

Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh said that the repeated abductions and killings by the CPI-Maoist is part of the TCOC launched by the outfit in March.

April 29: The CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze a private carrier on the Allapalli-Etapalli road near Tondel village in Aheri taluka of Gadchiroli District. The vehicle was carrying teakwood and was engaged in the forest department's work. The Maoists have been ‘asking’ the forest department to stop felling trees.

May 1: A zilla parishad member and five panchayat samiti members in the Maoist affected Bhamragarh tehsil of Gadchiroli District submitted their resignations, citing threats from the CPI-Maoist. The panchayat members who resigned are Gangaram Bhandekar, Vijay Kudyani, Subrato Haldar, Khushal Madavi and Bharat Zhade. The Congress’ zilla parishad member from Nelgunda Arewada sector of the Bhamragarh area Madni Bogami also resigned from her post.

May 4: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed two persons, identified as Madhukar Kapgate (40) and Vinayak Lombare (45), in Kurkheda tehsil (administrative unit) in Gadchiroli District. Sources in Gadchiroli claimed that Kapgate, native of Kurkheda, was an insurance agent, while Lombare from Jambhulghat village worked for him. Maoist pamphlets alleging them of being police informers were recovered from the spot.

Two Gadchiroli zilla parishad (ZP) (district level local self-Government institution) members from Etapalli tehsil - Karu Rapanji and Geeta Hichami - submitted their resignations in wake of ultimatum by the Maoists to every elected representative of civic bodies and office bearers of the political parties. Sources said that Hichami was also taken away into the forest by the Maoists but later released.

Odisha

January 1: The CRPF, BSF and the State Police have decided to step up operations against the CPI-Maoist in Southern Odisha soon. The CRPF DG K. Vijay Kumar accompanied by his Odisha Police counterpart Manmohan Praharaj and DIG Soumendra Priyadarshi arrived at Sunabeda in Nuapada District and visited CRPF camp and under construction 202 CoBRA battalion training camp there. Later, they went to Koraput and held an hour long close door meeting at BSF camp with BSF DIG S. K. Baruah, Koraput SP Anup Kumar Sahu, Malkangiri SP Anirudha Singh, CoBRA battalion commandant M. L. Rabindra and IRB commandant to chalk out the strategy for a massive anti-Maoist operation in Koraput and other Districts bordering Andhra Pradesh.

January 4: One person was killed in a landmine blast triggered by the CPI-Maoist cadres in Kandhamal District.

The Maoists set ablaze three mobile communication towers in Baragada area of Ganjam District on the first day of the two-day bandh called by the Maoists in the State from January 4. According to SDPO Binay Kamila, the Maoists set ablaze two mobile communication towers at Goudagotha village and another at Barada village, located near Ganjam-Gajapati-Kandhamal border where Maoists are trying to increase their hold. The Maoists also pasted posters asking people to make the bandh a success and to protest anti-Maoist operations. The Maoists also threatened the company officials and staff of the Vedanta Alumina Refinery to immediately give up their jobs and leave the area.

January 5: Three constables of the Odisha Police were killed and as many injured when CPI-Maoist cadres triggered a landmine blast at Badarpanga village in the Kotagarh area in Kandhamal District. The landmine went off when the team with two trained dogs was proceeding in a vehicle on Kotagarh-Srirampur road to the site of the blast that had taken place on January 4 in the area, State Home Secretary UN Behera said. The blast came on the second day of the two-day bandh called by the Maoists to protest the recent Police arrests and attacks on Maoists during Operation Saranda to flush them out of the forests on the Odisha-Jharkhand border. The deceased are identified as Sunasir Mohanty, Umakant Jani and Sangram Lenka. The three injured were identified as Noha Panda, Basanta Behera and Padmanav Dehuri.

January 6: Kandhamal District observed a bandh to register its protest against CPI-Maoist violence and as a mark of homage to the three Policemen, who died in the landmine blast on January 5. Several towns of Kandhamal, including Raikia, G Udayagiri, Khajuripada and Baliguda joined the bandh, with traders downing their shutters. Schools and colleges were closed for the day as well.

January 7: As the filing of nominations for the panchayat elections began on January 7, CPI-Maoist posters were found in Nuapada District where the Maoists claimed that they would participate in the polls. The posters, written both in Hindi and Odia, were found in Nuapada and Komna blocks. However, in both the areas, the posters carried different messages. Posters written in Odia - issued by CPI-Maoist Chhattisgarh-Odisha division - were found in gram panchayats of Komna block, Bhainsadani gram panchayat of Boden block and Nangelbeda and Ghatmal gram panchayats of Sinapali block asking aspirants to take their consent for contesting in the polls. The Maoists also stated that those daring to contest the polls without intimating the outfit, would face dire consequences. In the posters written in Hindi - issued by CPI-Maoist Mainpur division and found in Dharambandha and Bharuamunda gram panchayats of Nuapada block - the Maoists have asked people to stay alert for the polls. The Maoists stated that those willing to contest ‘should be poor, committed for the cause of the poor, be truthful and honest’.

The CPI-Maoist cadres killed a villager, identified as Enkana Kadranga (35), at Tolopalesu village under Bandhugaon Police Station in Koraput District. Maoists suspected him to be a 'Police informer'. According to sources a group of armed Maoists waylaid Kadranga, who along with three other villagers, was returning to Tolopalesu from Elgawalsa, within Bandhugaon Police limits, and killed Kadranga by slitting his throat with a sharp-edged weapon. The two companions of Kadranga were assaulted before being freed. Sources said the Maoists belonged to the Jhanjabati Committee of the outfit.

January 9: Junesh Pradhan, panchayat samiti chairman of Daringbadi block in Kandhamal District, was arrested by the Police for his alleged involvement in the Maoist triggered landmine blast that killed three Policemen near Badarpanga village on Kotagarh-Srirampur road on January 5. DIG, southern range, R. K. Sharma said during interrogation Junesh has confessed of his links with Maoists and involvement in the landmine blast.

January 10: The Police arrested another Maoist cadre, identified as Sukadev Digal, from Sipazu in Raikia Police Station area in Kandhamal District. At least six Maoist posters were recovered from him, the Police said.

January 11: A 45-year-old CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Somanath Pradhan of Janabadi village under Daringibadi Police Station, was arrested on charges of being involved in the landmine blast at Srirampur under Kotagarh Police Station in Kandhamal District. Somanath was the second person arrested in connection with the January 5 Maoist attack, which killed three Policemen and injured as many. Kandhamal Superintendent of Police J N Pankaj said both he and Junes Pradhan, the chairman of the Daringibadi panchayat samiti, were involved in the landmine blast.

During combing operation, SF personnel recovered two more landmines near Srirampur, the same place where the blast happened on January 5.

January 13: State Authorities in Gajapati District, in association with private companies, decided to undertaken a vocational training programme in Maoist-inflicted Districts to provide employment to tribal youth to bring them into the mainstream. The authorities set-up training centres to provide vocational training, in order to aid the rural youth to become self-sufficient and earn a livelihood.

January 16: Kandhamal Police arrested Manmohan Pradhan, the husband of the sarpanch of Sonepur panchayat in Daringibadi block and two others identified as Suneswar Baladamajhi and Petaguluduka for their reported involvement in CPI-Maoist violence in various places in Kandhamal District. Pradhan was arrested from his home. The two other accused were arrested during anti-Maoist combing operations. While Baladamajhi is a resident of Malliguda near Kotagarh, Petaguluduka hailed from Dembaguda in Chandrapur area in Rayagada District.

Security was intensified in the Maoist-affected areas in Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal and Rayagada Districts after intelligence inputs on Maoists pitching camps there.

Suspected Maoist, Andharu Gadaseth, had been arrested in Kandhamal District in relation to the same double murder case. Andharu was a student of Netaji Subhash College at Tumudibandh in the District. According to Police sources, he had escaped to Kerala after the double murder. CRPF, CoBRA, SOG and District Police are conducting joint anti-Maoist operations in Srirampur, Kotagarh, Daringibadi and Brahmanigaon areas in the District.

With just a few weeks to go before panchayat elections, Maoists have started campaigning against the polls in Koraput District. The Maoists have put up posters and banners in various parts of the District, urging voters not to participate in the poll process. A number of such posters were spotted at Dandabadi and Ramagiri areas under Boipariguda Police limits and at several areas under Narayanpatna Police limits. Maoist fear in Narayanpatna is evident given that single candidates have filed nominations in six out of nine panchayats in the block for the post of sarpanch. Similarly, seven out of nine posts of samiti members are uncontested in the block. Sources said people preferred not to file nominations in the Maoist-dominated panchayats in Narayanpatna. "It is quite possible that the rebels might have selected the candidates where single nominations have been filed and no other candidate dares to contest the election against the candidate chosen by the Maoists," said a block level official, engaged in the election process at Narayanpatna.

January 17: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Ruman Baliarsingh, was arrested from a lodge in Baliguda in Kandhamal District. Ruman is alleged to be involved in the murder of two civilians by Maoists at Jubagada village under Kotagarh Police Station limits in the night of August 4, 2011. The murdered persons were Sitaram Uthansingh (48), a panchayat member and Peter Mallik (30), a social activist.

January 18: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed a civilian on charges of being a Police informer in Malkangiri District. The victim was, identified as Guru Khillo (48), of Tonkoguda village under Mudulipada Police limits of the same District. According to sources, a group of armed Maoists reached Tonkoguda and forcibly took Khillo away from his house. Villagers later spotted the dead body of Khillo in Bododural village. "The deceased was shot at. Maoists had tied his hands prior to pumping bullets into him. We are trying to retrieve the body," said an unnamed senior Police officer in Malkangiri.

A Maoist letter written by Malkangiri Divisional Committee of the CPI-Maoist found at the spot mentioned Khillo was 'punished' for passing information to the Police about them. The letter also warned of similar consequences for anyone who tries to act as a Police informer.

A cadre of the CPI-Maoist, identified as Dhoba Digal (36) of Gajalabadi village under Sorada Police Station, was arrested in Ganjam District. He was involved in setting ablaze of at least five mobile towers of private operators, three at his village and two at nearby Asurabandha on December 16.

Two more Maoists were arrested in Kaudi forest bordering Keonjhar-Sundargarh-Angul and Deogarh Districts during combing operation and as many country made guns were seized from their possession. The arrested Maoist duo was identified as George Kamal and Hanukjiban Hangs who belonged to Silukana in Angul District, Police said at Keonjhar. However, the duo claimed before newsmen that they were not involved in any Maoist activities and had been to the forests for carrying out poaching.

Biramitrapur Police in Sundargarh District arrested Jaspal Singh, a resident of Rajgangpur, for illegal trafficking of detonators. The Police found 450 detonators in his sports utility vehicle. Singh did not have any license to carry the explosives, said SDPO Suman Dutta.

As part of anti-Maoist measures, Koraput District is set to get at least seven model Police Stations, the first of its kind in the State, very soon. The new Police Stations, likely to come up in the next couple of months, would help the ongoing anti-Maoist operations in the region, officials said. Funded by the Centre, the three-storey buildings would be constructed at a cost of Rs two crore at Semiliguda, Laxmipur, Kakirgumma, Sunabeda, Boipariguda, Kotpad and Pawda. "Site selection for the new police stations is complete and the work will begin soon. We hope that the police stations will be operational within a few months", Koraput SP Anup Kumar Sahoo said.

The Odisha High Court rejected the bail plea of Subhashree Panda, alias Mili Panda, the wife of Maoist leader Sabysachi Panda, in the Gudari Police Station case in Koraput District. Justice S C Parija, while rejecting the bail of Mili Panda, now in Police custody, asked the lower court to complete the trial of the case, filed in 2003, as soon as possible.

January 19: During raids at different places in MV-79, SFs arrested four Maoists. The arrestees were identified as Sambam Era, Bandami Suba, Bikram Bhumiya and Talem Naga, all from MV-79. "We were tipped off about their presence in MV-79. We subsequently raided the area and arrest them. No arms were found in their possession at the time of the arrest," said IIC Malkangiri Police Station R K Pati. "The quartet had joined the Maoist organization four years ago. They were presently members of the armed squad of Motu Dalam," the officer said. "At least seven cases, including two murders, are pending against them. Inquiry is on to find out their involvement in other Maoist offensives in the district," he added.

January 21: The Odisha Police killed a senior CPI-Maoist leader, identified as Subash alias Satish (45), from Chhattisgarh, wanted in several cases in an encounter in Mukhiguda-Majhiguda forest under Chandrapur Police limits in Rayagada District. Satish was the second in command of the Bansadhara Committee of the CPI-Maoist, headed by Nikhil. The bullet-ridden dead body of Satish was recovered from the encounter site along with his AK-47 rifle. However, no Policeman was injured in the incident. The Police recovered a SLR, Maoist literature and country-made guns from the spot.

The SF personnel, arrested an armed Maoist cadre, identified as Mani Purty alias Munda, from the Roxy reserve forest under K Balang Police Station in Sundargarh District during a combing operation that ensued following a tip-off that he was moving along with five to six other Maoist cadres in the forest. While Purty was arrested, others managed to flee, the Police said. Purty was involved in seven murder cases including that of a Police constable. He was also involved in four other cases. Purty was the mastermind behind the ARSS camp burning case in Sambalpur. The group was making plans to create disturbance during the Panchayat polls, the Police said.

In an attempt to intensify Maoist operation in Odisha, the MHA has sanctioned one more battalion of CPMF to State. After attending the meeting of Home Secretaries of five Maoist- affected States- Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Maharashtra, the State Home Secretary UN Behera said the MHA had agreed to provide one more BSF battalion. The new battalion would be deployed soon, he added.

January 23: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed a civilian on charges of being a Police informer in Narayanpatna in Koraput District. Local villagers spotted the dead body of Bidyut Bisoi (33) near a temple in the outskirts of Narayanpatna. Sources said that a group of Maoists waylaid Bisoi, returning from the temple, around 9 am and attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon in broad daylight.

The Police recovered the body of a Maoist cadre hanging from a tree at Suliapada forest in Mayurbhanj District. The dead Maoist was identified as Bhagabat Marandi of Palo village in Suliapada Police Station and a close associate of Maoist leader Kishore, the Police said.

January 24: The Police arrested Girish Mahato alias Mangru Mahto alias Uttam alias Dhiren alias Dhirendra (45), a State organising committee member of the CPI-Maoist, along with one of his close associate, identified as Shankar Munda, from Kharmunda village near canal road area under Attabira Police Station in Bargarh District.

January 25: A woman cadre of CPI-Maoist, allegedly involved in several criminal activities, surrendered before the Police in Gajapati District. "The Maoist cadre Tabita Mallick of Gangamunda village in Adaba Police Station area of the District was active in Maoist activities since 2009," SP Sarthak Sarangi said.

CM Naveen Patnaik reiterated Odisha's demand for inclusion of Nuapada, Bargarh, Bolangir and Kalahandi Districts in the centrally sponsored SRE scheme. In a letter to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Naveen pointed out that there has been a significant rise in Naxal violence in parts of Chhattisgarh bordering Odisha as well as Nuapada, Bolangir and Bargarh Districts. "Maoists are building up a base in Sunabeda reserve forest of Nuapada and its adjoining areas. They are also trying to spread their network along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border by creating and consolidating bases in Nuapada, Bargarh, Bolangir and Kalahandi Districts of western Odisha," he said. Naveen said there was an urgent need to include the four Districts under the purview of the SRE scheme to strengthen security infrastructure so as to effectively curtail and contain the spread of the LWE.

January 26: Two CPI-Maoist cadres, including a woman cadre, were killed in an exchange of fire with SFs in Koraput District. Acting on an intelligence input, troopers of DVF conducted a combing operation in the Bandhugaon area where a group of Maoists were spotted. As the Maoists and SF personnel came face to face, an encounter erupted in which two Maoists were killed and their bodies recovered, DIG, south-west, Soumendra Priyadarshi said. One of the slain Maoists, was identified as Chitrakam Reddy alias Sitru (30), an 'area commander' of Jhanjabati division of CPI-Maoist while the other one was his wife, a woman cadre whose identity was yet to be ascertained, he said. Some arms and ammunition were also recovered from the spot.

January 29: The SFs arrested two suspected CPI-Maoist cadres from a forest area in Malkangiri District. The duos, identified as Pabitra Nayak alias Pati and Bhagaban Bhumiya alias Deba, were arrested during a combing operation in Rajgiri forest based on intelligence input. The SFs also recovered some arms and ammunition from their possession.

January 31: SFs arrested two CPI-Maoist cadres from the Saranda forest, under Rourkela Police Station in Sundargarh District. The arrested Maoists, identified as Birbal Gudia (23) and Chandradeb Tirkey alias Charo (24), both members of the bomb squad under the Dakshin Chhota Nagpur Zonal Committee (DCNZC), were reportedly engaged in several Maoist activities in Odisha-Jharkhand border area and were involved in at least three Maoist-triggered incidents which had occurred on January 9, 2011.

February 3: A CPI-Maoist cadre, serving as the bodyguard of top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, surrendered before Police in Chhatarpur in Ganjam District. The Maoist, identified as Rajendra Kumar Ratia alias Suraj alias Sangram (23), from Kutuniganda village in Adaba Police Station area, was reportedly involved in several major Maoist offensives in Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada Districts in the last two years, including the firing incident at Kerubadi. Sources said Ratia was an active member of the Ghumusara division of the CPI-Maoist. He also imparted training to new cadres about the Maoist ideology and the party's social and political views.

February 4: The SF personnel recovered huge quantities of explosives dumped by CPI-Maoist during a combing operation from a forest in Koraput District. According to Police, at least 282 gelatin sticks each weighing 125 grams, 10 bundles of live wires, 28 tiffin boxes used to make landmines, among other Maoist belongings, were found in a forest under Macchkund Police limits. The explosives were dumped in the forest in a plastic drum.

Maoist threat is reportedly affecting poll campaign in Bolangir District. Sources said except the poll candidates, no star campaigner of any political party is venturing into the area. In the Patnagarh subdivision, most part of which is under Maoist threat, party workers are facing a tough time with their political bosses insisting them to stay in touch with people since they are not able to visit the area themselves.

February 7: Acting on a tip-off, a team comprising BSF and SOG troopers conducted a combing operation in Tekguda forest in Kalimela area in Malkangiri District and recovered a huge CPI-Maoist explosive dump. The recoveries include 12 electronic detonators, seven gelatine sticks, more than 30 metres of codex wire and electric wires used in landmine blast. Maoist literature, posters, banners and leaflets were also recovered from the spot.

February 9: Three CPI-Maoist cadres, identified as Sitaram Durua, Jagannath Durua and Lukuna Durua, were arrested by the DVF from Malipadar village under Baipariguda Police Station limits in Koraput District. Three SBML guns and huge quantity of material of day-to-day use meant for supply to the Maoists were recovered from their possession. Apart from it 10 bundles of wires used to detonate landmines were also recovered from them.

One Prashant Meher (18), a student of Bindhyabasini Junior College at Paikmal, was arrested for intimidating and trying to extort money from his college principal in the name of Maoists in Paikmal area in Bargarh District.

February 10: Four personnel of the BSF including a commandant were killed in an ambush by the cadres of the CPI-Maoist in Malkangiri District. Two other BSF personnel and two officials of the Irrigation Department were also injured in the attack, which came a day before the first phase polls of the panchayat elections. According to the District Police, the BSF personnel were on their way to Chitrakonda from the BSF camp at Balimela. They were travelling in a SUV to oversee security arrangements for the polls. At 1 p.m., their vehicle overturned in a landmine blast about nine kilometres from Balimela. No one was seriously injured or killed, but the personnel fell victim to indiscriminate firing by Maoists hiding in the nearby dense forest.

February 13: Three women cadres of CPI-Maoist - one from Odisha and two from Chhattisgarh - were arrested by Police near Soroda area in Ganjam District. The Odia Maoist, identified as Malati Majhi alias Lata (28) of Bujuli village under Daringbadi Police Station in Kandhamal District, was in charge of personal security of Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda. The other two Maoists, identified as Kadame Bulu (19) and Telam Soni alias Ratna (22), are from Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh. The latter two were originally part of Gangalur Area Division of West Bastar Division under Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee.

February 14: Around 20 suspected CPI-Maoist cadres snatched away ballot papers and polling boxes from officials at two booths in Trilochanpur village in Kalahandi District. The Maoists also took away mobile phones from the polling personnel.

February 16: Protesting against recent arrest of three cadres, the CPI-Maoist called a two-day bandh on February 16-17 in Ganjam and Kandhamal Districts. Vehicular traffic was disrupted in Maoist-hit areas in Kandhamal. However, it evoked little response in Ganjam.

The MHA has told the State Government to look for all possible legal "solutions" to avoid a situation in which Maoist groups end up seizing Government funds meant for development works, since a large part of these funds are routed through panchayat bodies. According to initial MHA estimates, at least 14 or 15 of 33 sarpanchs who have been elected unopposed in Maoist-affected blocks are known supporters of Maoist groups. The MHA has asked the State Government to look into the election of others as well. The elections are likely to be completed by the end of February.

February 21: Addressing to the State Assembly, Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare said the Government had taken strong steps to intensify anti-Naxal operations, with addition of 1,066 posts in the SOG. The number of deaths of SF personnel has come down from 22 in 2010 to 15 in 2011, Bhandare said and added that there had been considerable success with regard to surrender of Maoist leaders in 2011. The number of incidents of Naxal violence too has dropped significantly from 130 in 2010 to 100 in 2011.

70 Police Stations with an investment of INR 1.4 billion, INR 200 million per Police Station, are under construction in the Naxal-affected areas, Bhandare said and added that two engineering battalions will be commissioned in Odisha Police to take up construction activities in these areas. The Governor said 1,384 constables, 3,127 sepoys and 99 group-D personnel were recruited to strengthen the Police force. Recruitment of 511 sub-inspectors/deputy subedars and sergeants, 20 fire station officers and 12 assistant jailors is under process. Besides three Police training institutes at Bayree, Sambalpur and Koraput are being established, he added.

February 24: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead a woman near the weekly market at Sunabeda in Nuapada District. The woman was identified as Rita Das (25), the daughter of Subal Das, who is a Maoist.

February 25: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadres killed a civilian, identified as Salu Prusta (50), in Laxmipur area of Koraput District. The deceased Prusta had gone into the Perijhola forest area along with his wife Salme Praska to brew liquor, when a group of around 20 armed Maoists caught and killed him. The Maoists destroyed the material the couple left behind and left two handwritten letters at the spot.

February 28: A CPI-Maoist cadre identified as Roshan Munda of Chaibasa area in Jharkhand and involved in many violent incidents was arrested during a joint combing operation by CRPF and SOG from Gariakhaman forest in Kisinda area of Sambalpur District.

March 1: Toffan Sahu alias Akash alias Bangara (19), a close associate of the top associate of Sabyasachi Panda, the top leader of the CPI-Maoist surrendered to Ganjam SP in Chhatrapur in Ganjam District.

March 2: A critically injured youth, identified as Srikrishna Mahato (26) of Panchpia village under Jareikela Police Station in Jharkhand, succumbed to bullet injuries at the Ispat General Hospital in Rourkela in Sundargarh District during treatment.

March 3: Armed CPI-Maoist cadres attacked a stone-crushing unit of a private-builder and set ablaze 15 of its vehicles in Nuapada District. Over 40 cadres from Bargarh-Mahasamund division of the CPI-Maoist came to Baleshbahali village of Nuapada District where building firm DB is working on a canal extension project. The Maoists set ablaze eight dumpers, five tractors, a trawler and a van. Khariar SDPO, S.B Satpathy said.

A suspected Maoists belonging to JLT shot at and injured a truck driver and set ablaze the rice-loaded vehicle in Sorada area under Bisra Police Station limits in Sundargarh District bordering Jharkhand. A group of armed cadres attacked the truck injuring its driver, Mohammad Bablu.

March 7: The DVF during a routine combing operation arrested two cadres of the CPI-Maoist from Chhattisgarh-Odisha bordering Mahupadar village under Mathili Police limits in Malkangiri District. The duo was identified as Anda Majhi (27), a resident of Guruguda village and Mangaraj Durua (25), a resident of Mahupadar village. Both the cadres were active members of Darava division of the CPI-Maoist operating in Odisha-Chhattisgarh Border.

March 10: The Police arrested a Maoist sympathizer, identified as Ram Khillo, from Haldikund under Boipariguda Police limits in the District. The arrested Maoist sympathizer was providing logistical support to the Maoists and used to make necessary arrangements to hide weapons and other explosive material of the Maoists at villages.

March 11: A telephone exchange and a mobile communication tower of BSNL were set ablaze by a group of around six to seven armed CPI-Maoist cadres at Onakadelli under Macchkund Police Station limits in Koraput District.

March 12: The SFs unearthed an explosive dump of the CPI-Maoist at Mattamput on Matchkund-Lamataput main road in Koraput District. The dump included 20 kilograms of explosives, detonators and gelatine sticks.

March 13: After the Maoist violence [setting ablaze of mobile towers] at Onkadelli on March 11, SFs of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh launched a massive combing operations by deploying two choppers.

March 17: Two Italian tourists, identified as Bosusco Paolo, functioning as a tour operator in Puri, and Claudio Colangelo, who were on a trekking tour on the Ganjam-Kandhamal border, were reportedly abducted by the Maoists. There are reports that the Italians may have been abducted on March 14 itself. A driver and cook who were accompanying them and their vehicle were released by the Maoists subsequently.

March 18: Two constables, identified as Sasikanth Rout and Sunil Singh, of OSF, who were part of a bomb disposal squad, were killed and two others critically injured in an explosion while defusing a landmine at Alangapada near Lamataput in Koraput District. According to the Police, the incident took place around 9.30am at Alangapada near Ongelguda Ghat Road in the District's Macchkund Police Station area.

The Maoists killed a contractor, identified as Mohd Itar Mahamad in Bargarh District. Mahamad - was entrusted with the construction of a check dam at Patrapali, under Paikmal block in the District. Itar hailed from a neighbouring Badtunda village.

March 19: The cadres of the CPI-Maoist triggered a blast at an under-construction godown of a panchayat building in Malkangiri District. According to sources, a group of around 50 Maoists accompanied by local supporters swooped down on the building on Bonda hills and planted explosives to destroy the building. Though no injury or casualty was reported, the attack completely damaged the godown of Mudulipada panchayat, under Khairput block.

March 20: Odisha Police registered cases at Daringibadi Police Station in Kandhamal District against Maoist leaders, Sunil and Manoj, along with 24 others on March 20 in connection with the abduction of the two Italian nationals and two Odia youths, Santosh Kumar Moharana and Kartika Parida, on March 14 from a jungle on Ganjam-Kandhamal border.

March 22: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed) a SI, Krushna Chandra Rath (55), at Khairaput under Mudulipada Police Station limits in Malkangiri District. At around 6.15pm when he went to a roadside kiosk in the nearby market to have tea, the Maoists waiting there, who are suspected to be three or four in number, shot him dead.

March 24: More than 50 armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist abducted Jhina Hikaka (34), a MLA from Laxmipur belonging to the ruling BJD from a hilly area between Koraput and Laxmipur in Koraput District. While the PSO and driver of the MLA were allowed to leave, Hikaka was taken away into the nearby forest, by the Maoists at gunpoint.

The abduction of two Italians, the murder of a SI in Malkangiri and the abduction of a MLA, is being seen in security circles as the outcome of a tussle between the Andhra and Orissa factions of CPI-Maoist operating in the state. The Orissa State Organizing Committee had claimed responsibility for the abduction of the Italians while the AOBSZC said they had kidnapped MLA Jhina Hikaka.

A group of 10 armed CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze a country liquor manufacturing unit at Jamki village under Tureikela block in Bolangir District. However, no one has been injured in the incident.

March 25: The cadres of the CPI-Maoist released Claudio Colangelo, one of the two Italians abducted in Kandhamal District on March 14. The hostage crisis, however, remained unresolved as the other Italian national, Bosusco Paolo, and Biju Janata Dal legislator Jhina Hikaka were still in the clutches Maoists.

Speaking to the visiting newspersons while releasing Colangelo top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda admitted that there was lack of unity among the division that he was heading and divisions that were at work in Malkangiri and Koraput Districts in the southern parts of the State.

March 26: Two days after Laxmipur MLA Jhina Hikaka was abducted, the CPI-Maoist cadres of Koraput sent a wish-list that included immediate halting of combing operations and release of CMAS activists lodged in jails. The letter on the CPI-Maoist letterhead, signed by 'secretary of Koraput-Srikakulam divisional committee' Daya alias Chemmala Krishnamurthi and one Jagabandhu, a representative of AOBZSC, demanded that the Government stop Operation Green Hunt immediately.

March 27: Abducted ruling BJD MLA, Jhina Hikaka, was 'produced' before a kangaroo court organised by the CPI-Maoist at an undisclosed site at Narayanpatna in Koraput District. Hikaka answered questions at the kangaroo court put at him by the tribals who attended the court at the Maoists' invitation.

March 29: Two CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested by SFs during combing operation inside Tekpadar forest in Malkangiri District. According to Police sources the arrested duo was Tapan Saha (28) and Ghasi Pangi (30). Both of them are residents of Malkangiri District. A country made gun, four detonators, a tiffin-bomb and Maoist materials were seized from them.

March 29: The State Police organisation did not procure adequate number of modern weapons while issued only a fraction of procured weapons to operational forces, said Comptroller and Auditor General, report of which was tabled in the State Legislative Assembly.

The mediators threatened to pull out of the talks if the Government did not give its response to the Maoists' demands by the evening of March 30. The mediators claimed that the Maoists were now ready to release Italian tour operator Bosusco Paolo if the State Government agreed to fulfil three of the 13 demands raised by the abductors.

A group of about 25 CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze a jeep and a motorcycle near Kattulapeta village under Bandhugaon block limits in Koraput District. Sources said one Prakash Debarpulli, an illicit liquor vendor, was transporting a huge quantity of country liquor by plastic jerkins to Bandhugaon by a Commander jeep when the Maoist intercepted and set ablaze the Jeep.

March 30: The Police arrested four Maoists identified as identified as Lala Nag (52), Birendra Nag (20), Lesua Tenwa (26), and Obey Dhanwar (24) near Kaliaposh area under Bisra Police Station in Sundargarh District, during a combing operation on the Jharkhand-Odisha border. "We have recovered one land mine, weighing about 15kg, kept in a steel container, two dry cell battery, 100 meters of wire, one crowbar and one mobile phone from their possession," said Rourkela SP Himanshu Lal.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik invited the CPI-Maoist-backed CMAS for talks to secure the release of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka. "As the demands by the abductors seem related to the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha, the State Government is open to dialogue with the Sangh members. Therefore, we invite the Sangh to nominate their representatives for talks," Patnaik informed the State Assembly in the evening. Hikaka was abducted by the Maoists on March 24, 2012.

April 1: Divya alias Santhi alias Wallasi (26), a CPI-Maoist 'commander' was arrested by BSF troopers from near Chitrakonda in Janbai area of Malkangiri District. A laptop, believed to contain information on the movements of Maoists, a diary containing phone numbers of various leaders and a 9mm pistol were recovered from Divya who was a member of the women's organisational team, later serving as a member of the local organisation squad (LOS).

April 2: The State Government and Maoist-nominated mediators resumed negotiations after the CPI-Maoist released an audio-tape saying hostage Italian national Paolo Bosusco would not be released till their demands are met. Earlier in the day, the new audio-tape released by Sabyasachi Panda, secretary of the CPI-Maoist Odisha State Organising Committee, demanded that the 36 people whose names have been given to the Government should be released forthwith. There was uproar in the State Legislative Assembly over the safety of abducted MLA Jhina Hikaka as MLA Amar Satpathy alleged that he was ill.

The Maoist-affected tribal Districts of Koraput and Rayagada have imposed a ban on the entry of foreign nationals into the Districts.

April 3: A CPI-Maoist cadre was killed in an encounter during a joint operation by Central Reserve Police Force, Special Operations Group, Keonjhar and Angul Police near Mundatopa village within Kanjipani Police limits in Keonjhar District. Police have recovered three guns, three kitbags, tiffin box, posters and leaflets from his possession.

An 'area commander' of the CPI-Maoist, identified as Sanyasi Pujari alias Pravin, surrendered before the Police in Malkangiri District.

The Maoists fixed April 5 as the deadline for the Naveen Patnaik Government to fulfil their demands to secure the release of ruling Biju Janata Dal legislator Jhina Hikaka who was abducted on March 24.

The AOBSZC 'secretary' Chandra Mauli issued an audio tape declaring April 5 as deadline for release of the CMAS leaders and members incarcerated in jails under fabricated charges in lieu of Hikaka's safe release.

The negotiation for the release of Italian tour operator Bosusco Paolo was scheduled to continue on April 4 (today). Paolo has been in the hands of a different group of Maoists since March 14.

April 4: A top CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Pandu Panki Ray (22), was arrested from Sundergarh District. The Police recovered a landmine weighing about 15 kilograms along with wires from the site.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said his Government had decided to facilitate the release of as many as 27 persons to secure the freedom of BJD legislator Jhina Hikaka and Italian tour operator Paolo Bosusco from the CPI-Maoist. Making a statement in the State Legislative Assembly, Patnaik said that in the case of Hikaka, the Government had decided to facilitate the release of 15 members of the CMAS and also eight Maoists from Koraput and Malkangiri jails. Four other Maoists are to be released in lieu of Paolo Bosusco. While the Maoist group headed by Sabyasachi Panda, the CPI-Maoist OSOC secretary, abducted Italian tour operator Paolo Bosusco along with Claudio Colangelo on March 14, another faction of the Maoists abducted Jhina Hikaka on March 24. As reported earlier, Colangelo was released on March 25.

April 5: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik announced the names of 27 persons whose release the Government will facilitate through legal steps to ensure the release of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka and Italian tour operator Bosusco Paolo from the hands of the CPI-Maoist. The four persons who would be released for securing Paolo's freedom include Subhashree Das alias Mili Panda, wife of Sabyasachi Panda, 'secretary' of the Odisha State Organising Committee of CPI-Maoist.

The Maoists have extended the deadline for the Odisha Government to meet their demands till April 7 for the release of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka. Earlier, the deadline was April 5.

Tipila Hesa (17), a woman Maoist cadre, surrendered before the Police in Jajpur District.

April 6: Sabyasachi Panda, the 'secretary' of OSOC of the CPI-Maoist rejected the Odisha Government's swap offer for the release of Italian national Paolo Bosusco. The other group of Maoists who had taken the BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka hostage also did not respond to the Government's offer to facilitate release of 23 persons to secure his release.

April 8: Sabyasachi Panda, 'secretary' of the OSOC of CPI-Maoist, asked the State Government to clarify the names of his followers to be released in exchange for abducted Italian tour operator Paolo Basusco. The fresh audio tape by Panda followed a day after the Government claimed to have reached a pact over Basusco, agreeing to free five of the six whose release had been sought by the Maoists.

CM Naveen Patnaik had announced the release of 15 activists of CMAS and eight Maoists (including two hardcore Andhra Maoist) in exchange for BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka, the AOBSZC, which holds Hikaka hostage, has demanded the release of five more Maoists and their sympathisers, including Chenda Bhushanam alias Ghasi.

AOBSZC spokesperson Jagabandhu sent a letter to the Government demanding that all Maoists in the list in exchange for the MLA's freedom should be released in Balipeta village of Koraput District by April 10. "There should not be any police or intelligence personnel present," the letter says.

April 9: The AOBSZC of the CPI-Maoist, which has kept BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka hostage, wrote a letter to his wife to reach Balipeta village in Narayanpatna block of Koraput District on April 10 along with 30 prisoners to pave the way for his release.

The OPA has threatened to go on strike if any hardcore Maoists are released in a swap deal.

More than 1,000 tribals of Narayanpatna block organised a rally under the banner of CMAS demanding that all CMAS activists lodged in Koraput jail be released forthwith.

A Maoist, identified as Bhagirathi alias Nagesh, was arrested by Police in Adaba Police Station area under Rayagada District during a combing operation, when a passenger vehicle was being searched.

April 10: Subhashree Panda, wife of CPI-Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda who is holding an Italian tourist as hostage, got acquitted by a Fast Track Court in Rayagada District in the case of 2003 Kutinguda encounter between police and Maoists in Gudari block of Rayagada District.

CM Naveen Patnaik appealed to the abductors to release Italian citizen Bosusco Paolo and legislator Jhina Hikaka unharmed and without delay. Patnaik said certain legal procedures had to be followed to facilitate the release of 27 prisoners demanded by the Maoists.

April 11: A group of family members of Maoist-backed CMAS activists who are in jail gathered at Balipeta in Narayanpatna block of Koraput District to sit on indefinite dharna demanding the release of the latter. The agitators, mostly women, said they came to the place with the hope that their jailed relatives would get released at the spot.

April 12: The OSOC of the CPI-Maoist has finally released Italian hostage Paolo Bosusco who was in their captivity since March 14. The Maoists released Paolo in Mohona village in Gajapati District.

The fate of BJD legislator Jhina Hikaka who has been in the captivity of AOBSZC of the CPI-Maoist since March 24 remains uncertain as the Maoists refused to release him unless their demands were met.

April 15: The CPI-Maoist in Odisha set April 18 as the date for the State Government to meet their demands for the release of abducted BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka. Hikaka was abducted from Koraput on March 24. The CPI-Maoist has demanded the release of 29 prisoners.

Paolo Bosusco, who was held hostage by OSOC of the CPI-Maoist, is said to have revealed vital information about Sabyasachi Panda, the secretary of OSOC. Paolo estimated Panda has just about 20 cadres, including 10 women, each armed with a gun. The unit has one VHF set, one walky-talky, two tiffin bombs, one laptop with data card and one generator. He described the OSOC leader as "sick".

Nikhil, spokesman of Bansadhara Division Committee of CPI-Maoist in his letters to the media said, "They [Telugu cadres] torture Oriya cadres. They give poor food, torn uniforms and damaged shoes to Oriya cadres." bringing factionalism among Maoists to the fore.

April 15: The Centre has accepted Odisha's demand to include four more CPI-Maoist-affected Districts under the SRE scheme, official sources said. The State Government had demanded inclusion of Nuapada, Bolangir, Bargarh and Kalahandi Districts under SRE scheme. With the latest inclusion, 19 out of 30 Districts in Odisha would benefit under the SRE scheme, official sources said.

April 17: A group of about 20 CPI-Maoist cadres held a meeting at Kanimohuli village in Suliapada tehsil in Mayurbhanj District of Odisha, located at the West Bengal-Jharkhand border, a few days back to reorganise themselves. Sources said Maoist leaders like Akash and Bikash had attended the meeting along with some local leaders of the CPI-Maoist.

April 18: The Odisha Government agreed to withdraw cases against as many as 13 persons, including a few CPI-Maoist cadres, to secure the release of abducted legislator Jhina Hikaka.

Major-General (retd.) Gagandeep Bakshi, a retired Army officer approached the Supreme Court to restrain the Odisha Government from meeting the Maoists' demand of releasing the Naxals as they had been captured by SFs while putting their lives at stake.

Two CISF troopers were injured when suspected CPI-Maoist cadres opened fire at a CISF vehicle at the Panchpatmali bauxite mining hills in Damanjodi in Koraput District. "We recovered at least seven empty bullet cases from the spot. The bullets were fired from either an AK 47 or a 303 gun. Two bullets hit two CISF personnel present in the vehicle," DIG Soumendra Priyadarshi said.

The 13 names the State Government announced against whom cases would be withdrawn in exchange of the MLA's release didn't have the names of Linga and Gananath Patra, adviser of CMAS who is now in jail.

April 19: The Maoists began their praja court to decide whether or not to release abducted BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka. Sources said the court was held at a place about 2 kilometres from Balipeta in Narayanpatna area in the District. The Maoists may delay Hikaka's release by a few days.

The ADJ (Fast track) Dilip Kumar Mishra of Jeypore granted bail to Rabi Tadangi arrested for his involvement in a 2009 loot case in Narayanpatna Police Station area, taking the total number of CMAS activists released (since April 17, 2012) on bail to five. Earlier on April 17 and April 18, the court had granted bail to Argu Sirika, Dora Hontal, Dhana Hontal and Wadeka Walsi.

The Gajapati District and session’s court rejected the fresh bail petition filed by Maoist leader Arati Majhi. Arati was one of the Maoists whose release was demanded in exchange of abducted (now released) Italian Paolo Bosusco. Arati was arrested on February 10, 2010.

The SC wanted to know “what was happening” in the Odisha Maoist hostage crisis. The Centre told the SC it had “no idea”, while the Odisha Government, the primary respondent in a public interest petition seeking to prevent it from succumbing to the “blackmail tactics” of Maoists, was not represented.

The Maoists had blocked several roads connecting Narayanpatna block with the outside world. The roads had not been cleared till evening. The Narayanpatna-Laxmipur road was blocked at several places by the Maoists by felling trees and digging up the road. The Narayanpatna-Bandhugaon-Parvathipuram road was blocked near Bagam square. The Narayanpatna-Podapadar road was blocked near Podapadar.

April 20: The CPI-Maoist cadres attacked a site where works were being undertaken under PMGSY near Pendajam under Semiliguda Police Station limits in Koraput District. According to sources, the Maoists set ablaze and damaged two road rollers, one tipper, one excavator and a motorcycle.

The AOBSZC of the CPI-Maoist who have been holding Odisha legislator Jhina Hikaka hostage since March 24, said they would organise a ‘people's court' on April 25 to take a final decision on his release.

April 23: The Gajapati District and Session Court in Paralakhemundi granted bail to eight CPI-Maoist cadres, including Arati Majhi (22), in the two cases related to burning of OSRTC bus and damaging a mobile communication tower at Raipanka in Gajapati District in 2009.

April 26: The CPI-Maoist cadres released BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka in the forests of Narayanpatna in Koraput District. Hikaka was abducted by the Maoists on March 24 near Toyapet in Koraput District, while he was returning home to Laxmipur from Semiliguda.

April 27: The State Police raided a camp belonging to Sabyasachi Panda, secretary of the OSOC of CPI-Maoist, in Sorada area in Ganjam District. An exchange of fire took place between the Police and Maoists. The Police seized the generator and some other items after the encounter.

Nirmala alias Nande Sodi (30), ‘deputy Commander’ of Paplur and Kalimela dalam, surrendered before the DIG (South-Western Range), Sunabeda, Soumendra Priyadarshi at Malkangiri District. Nirmala, native of Kurup village in the District, reportedly worked for nearly 10 years for the CPI-Maoist. Nirmala also handed over her country-made pistol and a .303 rifle to the Police.

May 2: Maoists killed two villagers, identified as Gobardhan Pande (20) and Kailash Agrawal (31), at Luhasingha village near Patnagarh in Bolangir. Police said Kailash was the owner of a Mahua flower godown where Gobardhan was working as a night watchman.

A group of armed Maoists abducted and killed Balaram Naik (35), a marginal farmer, at Tentuligumma under Boipariguda block (administrative division) in Koraput District, suspecting him to be a Police informer.

May 5: Police took custody of five German tourists from Khaprakhol block in Bolangir District. Officials warned them to never to venture into the Maoist-affected area again. "The new guidelines don''t allow foreigners to visit tourist spots without prior permission. The entry of five Germans amounts to flouting of rules," District Tourist Officer Goutam Nag said.

May 4: A woman CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Sini Sai (50), who happens to be a former Sarpanch (head of Gram Panchayat, village level local self-Government institution) of Gobaraghati Gram Panchayat under Kalinga Nagar Police Station in Jajpur District, allegedly involved in the killing of security men and many crimes, was arrested from the dense forest bordering Jajpur and Keonjhar areas. Sini was involved in the attack on Daitari Police Station, abduction of a Police officer Umesh Marandi and other crimes and violence in Jajpur and Keonjhar Districts.

May 4: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed a contractor in Malkangiri Village-55 (MV-55) area within Kalimela Police limits in Malkangiri District. Villagers found the dead body of Subalo Sil (48), on the canal embankment near Saplur Chowk, a few metres from MV-55. Sil, who was undertaking repair work of canal embankments and village roads, belonged to nearby MV 55 village was earlier warned by the Maoists through posters pasted on the canal embankment asking him not to undertake repair works without their permission.

Prasant Majhi alias Susanta (22), the personal bodyguard of top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil, since 2007, surrendered before the local Police in Gajapati District. Susanta, a school dropout from Guluba village in the District, joined the Maoists in 2005, in his teens. Initially, he worked as a courier and later went on to become one of the most trusted members of the outfit, eventually getting the job of Panda's bodyguard. Susanta underwent training in at least six camps in Gajapati and Kandhamal District in jungle warfare and handling of weapons like INSAS rifle, AK-47, sten gun and 9mm pistol.

Uttar Pradesh

January 23: A top CPI-Maoist cadre, Samjhawan Chero, carrying a cash reward of INR 112,000 on his head, has been arrested in Harriya under Robertsganj Police Station area in Sonebhadra District following an encounter in which three Policemen were also injured. The SFs arrested Samjhawan Chero after a two-hour-long encounter. Some other Maoists, Munna Vishkarma, Lalbrat Kol, Ajit Kol and Mangal Chero among others, managed to escape under the cover of darkness. One hand-grenade, one Government rifle, one DBBL gun, a country-made revolver, 146 empty cartridges and 50 live cartridges were recovered from the arrested Maoist.

February 13: In 2010-11, several bunds and check-dams were built in Jugail gram panchayat with INR 13.I million from MGNREGS funds. Since then, most of these have been washed away or developed large cracks. And many of those who worked on the construction are still waiting for their wages.

February 15: Around 57.25 per cent voters cast their votes in the third phase of polling held in 56 Assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh. Significantly, maximum polling was reported from the CPI-Maoist affected Districts of Chandauli (62.5 per cent) and Mirzapur (62.4 per cent). Another Maoist affected District Sonbhadra polled 58.25 per cent votes.

April 3: A CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Ram Kewal alias Guddu Oraon, was arrested following an encounter near Patwadh village under Chopan Police Station limits in Sonbhadra District. Guddu who had taken shelter in this village tried to escape and was arrested along with a country-made revolver and live cartridges. Police said that Guddu belonged to Bhabhua District in Bihar and was operating with 'commander' Munna Vishwakarma.

Tamil Nadu

February 20: The Q branch of Tamil Nadu Police arrested a CPI-Maoist State committee member, Manivasakam, near Thanjavur. Manivasakam had been absconding since 2008.

April 9: Following the finding of suspected training centres of CPI-Maoist in Karnataka in March 2012, the Tamil Nadu Police, including STF, Q branch and District Police, have launched a combing operation in the Western Ghats. Police teams from 12 Districts are involved in the combing operation in the hilly terrain.

April 23: Tamil Nadu is free of any extremist menace, especially Naxalism, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said in the State Assembly. She stated, “We have no fear of Naxals or extremists at all here and we are head and shoulders above all other States in the country in this regard”.

West Bengal

January 2: The State Police’s recruitment drive in CPI-Maoist-affected Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore Districts has received a strong response. The Government has fast forwarded the process of recruitment of constables and home guards in the wake of the killing of Maoist politburo member Mallojula Koteswara Rao on November 24, 2011. According to official records, in 28 Police Stations across Bankura, West Midnapore and Purulia districts, 93,285 tribal men and women have submitted forms for the post of special Police Constable. The government in its notification issued in September announced that 5,000 youths will be recruited as special police constables while another 5,000 to be recruited as national volunteer force.

January 12: Four CPI-Maoist cadres surrendered before CM Mamata Banerjee in Jhargram in West Midnapore District. The four surrendered cadres are identified as Lambodar Majhi, Bhajohari Mahato and Karan Kaibarta and Sukhdev Mahato. While was involved in Maoist activities in the West Midnapore District, the other three were active in Purulia District. The Maoists surrendered at an event marking the culmination of a two-day youth festival organised by the State Government on the occasion of the 150^th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

January 14: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee announced that her Government would prepare an employment bank for the youth in Junglemahal comprising three Maoist-hit districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura. She promised that development would help her gain political and administrative control in the Maoist-hit regions. Mamata, who recently went to Jhargram to join the 'Junglemahal Festival', coughed up INR.25, 000 each for 710 football clubs that participated in the yearlong football tournament in the troubled forest belt. More than INR.4 crore was used from Government coffers to wean the people away from extremism.

January 17: From paying off an ailing father's medical bills and eliminating sworn enemies to death threats - the CPI-Maoist resorts to every tactics to rope in new recruits. And if the accounts of four surrendered Maoists are any indication, it's everything but ideology that forced them to take up arms against their own people. Squad members Lombodar Majhi, Bhojohari Mahato, Karan Koiborto and Sukdeb Mahato had surrendered before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Jhargram on January 12 and were allowed by police to speak to the media in Midnapore on January 16. They said they were quickly disillusioned with the Maoists.

One of the main accused in the derailment of the Jnaneswari Express that claimed 148 lives on May 28, 2010, identified as Joydeb Mahato, was arrested from West Midnapore District. A District Police officer said the leader of CPI-Maoist-backed PCPA was arrested near Midnapore town by a joint team of West Bengal Police and CID. The CBI had announced a reward of INR 100, 000 for any information to capture Mahato alive. Joydeb is the fourth top functionary of the organisation.

January 19: The CPI-Maoist has for the first time admitted that the death of its politburo member Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji has dealt a heavy blow to the outfit and called upon the youth to join the outfit. Kishanji was killed in an armed encounter with the Joint Forces in Jungle Mahal in West Bengal on November 24, 2011. In a release circulated among some TV channels, the CPI-Maoist central committee said that Kishanji's killing in Jungle Mahal had come as ''a great blow'' to the organisation and appealed to the youth to join the outfit ''to fulfill Kishenji's cherished dream''. The central committee asked its State unit in West Bengal to initiate efforts to draw more youth to the organisation.

January 21: The Police claimed to have uncovered a CPI-Maoist plot to target the Nimpura Police Camp near the Indian Air Force base at Kalaikunda in West Midnapore District as “revenge” for Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji’s death. According to sources, some documents including the “blueprint” of the plot were recovered when the Police, acting on a specific tip-off, raided a Maoist shelter at Akrashol village in Jhargram in the night of January 20. Nobody has been arrested so far.

January 24: Md Khaleque alias Bablu, reportedly a close aide of State secretary Akash of the CPI-Maoist of West Bengal and Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji, was arrested from village Khokra near Harishchandrapur in Maldah District. Bablu was reportedly the prime suspect in the killing of CPI-M supporter Sridam Das (49), of Dubrajpur on April 22 of 2008 and Primary school teacher and CPI-M leader Nandalal Mistri (53), of Rajnagar village of Birbhum District on September 22, 2011.

January 29: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadres killed a worker of the TMC party in Jhargram area in West Midnapore District. The worker was picked up by the Maoists late in the night from his home and was shot dead. Namita Mahato, a local woman, said that the body of the TMC worker was found near the railway tracks.

February 4: The STF of Kolkata Police arrested a senior member of the RPF, the political front of the Manipur-based PLA; from the Maidan area in Kolkata, for his alleged links with the CPI-Maoist in West Bengal. Dhiren Singh alias Raghu alias Macha (37), was living in South Kolkata posing as a medical representative, an unnamed senior STF officer said. The Police recovered 30 rounds of live cartridges of 7.62 bore from him. "He was supplying arms and sophisticated communication sets to Maoists for the past two years," the officer said. "Dhiren is the self-styled captain of the PLA. He had been travelling across West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for the past three years, with Kolkata as his base, for fixing deals with the Maoists," an STF source said.

February 5: A CPI-Maoist 'squad leader', Yudhistir Mahato alias Arjun, was killed during an encounter with joint SFs in Jamtal forest in West Midnapore District. Yudhistir Mahato was killed when SFs purportedly opened retaliatory fire after Maoists attacked them during the combing operation in the area.

February 7: A CPI-Maoist couple, identified as Chiranjit Mahato alias Nirmal Mahato alias Lambu and his wife Anima Mahato alias Usha, surrendered to the West Midnapore District Police. Chiranjit primarily operated in Madhupur and Kanta Pahari area of Lalgarh. Anima was part of the armed group led by Badal.

February 8: After getting information from two surrendered CPI-Maoist cadres Chiranjit Mahato and his wife Anima Mahato, the Police recovered 11 landmines, 10 kilograms of explosives, several detonators, Maoist posters and leaflets and other material needed to make landmines from Kanyabali forest at Salboni in West Midnapore District.

February 9: Phulmani alias Bela, a female squad member of the CPI-Maoist was arrested by the joint SFs from Jangalmahal region under the Lalgarh Police Thana area in West Midnapore District.

February 11: The joint SFs launched an operation against CPI-Maoist in the forest belt near Jharkhand border in West Midnapore District. Combined forces of CRPF, SAP, and CoBRA troopers began inching towards Kanaisol Hills, 15-20 kilometres from Belpahari Police Station, close to the inter-state boundary, Police sources said. The operation was launched after the administration put up posters in several parts of the belt with pictures of seven 'area commanders' of CPI-Maoist, urging them to come forward and lay down arms.

One person identified as Sahadeb Hansda (28), an alleged Maoist linkman, was arrested from Bikrampur village under Simlapal Police Station in Bankura District.

In an attempt to persuade members of the CPI-Maoist to lay down arms and prevent their movement in the Maoist-affected Jangalmahal region of West Bengal, the State Police have put up posters with the photographs of seven prominent Maoist leaders in the Jhargram area in West Midnapore District. Each poster has the name and photograph of an important Maoist leader, including the party's State secretary Akash, squad 'commander' Bikash, Suchitra Mahato, Tara and Jayanto, with a message urging them to join the mainstream.

February 12: An encounter took place between SFs and CPI-Maoist cadres in a forest in West Midnapore District. Following intelligence input that a group of Maoists from Bandwan and Odisha had come to Gopiballavpur to hold a meeting, a team of SFs raided the area. There was no report of any injury or casualty during the 20-minute-long encounter, said Jhargram SP Gaurav Sharma. "After the initial firing, the Maoists seemed to have fled away to Odisha. We found a bag and a polythene sheet," he added.

February 18: Speaking at the inauguration of the Regional Hub of National Security Guard at Badu in the State's North 24 Parganas District, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram lauded the efforts of the newly elected State Government for bringing Maoist activity under considerable control.

February 26: Two persons seated on the roof of a bus were hit by bullets fired by the CPI-Maoist cadres at Purnapani in West Midnapore District. Later, the Maoists abducted one of them.

February 29: Sadanala Ramakrishna alias RK, stated to be the head of the Central Technical Committee of the CPI-Maoist, was arrested in Kolkata. Four other Maoist cadres were also arrested. A city court remanded all the five in Police custody till March 13. Ramakrishna had been arrested along with associate Dipak Kumar, a resident of Chhattisgarh, from the College Street area. The three others - Sukumar Mondal, Bapi Mudi and Sambhu Charan Pal, all said to be residents of the State - were arrested from the Beniapukur area and seized materials used in making rocket launchers and other explosives from a workshop in the same area. The accused were involved in acquisition and manufacture of firearms, rocket launchers and grenades. They supplied firearms to Maoist outfits across the country. "Subversive documents", Maoist literature, drawings of machine parts and INR 500, 000 in cash were seized from the accused. Twenty-five pieces of six-holed metal sockets used in making rocket launchers were recovered from the Beniapukur workshop.

Mumbai Police arrested Aswin Kumar Bhattacharya from Mumbai. Bhattacharya, a senior member of the CPI-Maoist, is also a part of the arms supply chain, said Police sources.

March 4: Based on the information provided by five CPI-Maoist cadres who were arrested on February 29 in a joint operation of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh Police, STF officers of Kolkata Police raided an apartment in Birati, located in the eastern fringe of the city, and seized INR 3.5 million in cash, instruments used for manufacturing rocket-launchers, and some Maoist documents.

March 8: In a surprising revelation, the STF and IB officers interrogating five arrested CPI-Maoist learnt that the Maoist movement in Chhattisgarh is mainly controlled from various parts of the city. "Kolkata not only provides the logistics, financial and other support to their counterparts in Chhattisgarh but it also arranges for a safe hideout for important national level leaders. As per our information, at least three to four Central Committee members live in the city throughout the year," a top STF officer said.

March 9: Senior female CPI-Maoist action squad 'commander' Suchitra Mahato (35), a close aide of killed CPI-Maoist Politburo member Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji, surrendered in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with her newly married husband Prabir Gorai at the State Secretariat in Kolkata.

March 13: The Kolkata Police approached a Court in Kolkata to frame charges against Sadanala Ramakrishna alias RK, the head of the Central Technical Committee of the CPI-Maoist, and four other members of the outfit, arrested on March 1, under the UAPA.

March 20: Joint SF's found a laptop and a printer, believed to be used by the CPI-Maoist leader Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji just hours before his death. Six powerful IEDs and more than 150 kilogram of explosives, detonators and some ammunition were also seized from the hideout in Kushaboni forest of Jhargram in West Midnapore District.

March 31: The Jharkhand and West Bengal Police launched a combing operation in East Singhbhum District on the border between two States on information that a Maoist squad was in the area. "We have launched a massive combing operation jointly with the CRPF at Amdapahari under Naxal-hit Patamda Police Station bordering West Bengal for the Maoist squad," SSP Akhilesh Kumar Jha said. The Jharkhand Police was engaged in the operation in the State and the West Bengal Police was combing in the bordering area of Bandwan in Purulia District.

April 23: Mangal Mahato, a leader of the PCPA, a frontal organisation of the CPI-Maoist, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the West Midnapore District. The bullet- ridden body of Mahato was found in the morning near Banstala railway station in the Jhargram sub-division of the District.

May 4: A hardcore cadre of the CPI-Maoist, who supplied arms to other extremists, has been arrested by the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police, sources said. Ajay Chanda, known as Jhulan in Maoist circles, was caught from Esplanade bus stand a few days ago, after which a city court remanded him to police custody for 14 days. During interrogation, Ajay who hails from Burdwan District admitted that he had links with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and was a key man in bringing arms for Maoist activities from outside. STF sources said based on leads from his statement, they have raided many places in the city and adjoining areas to seize laptops, hard disks, documents and cash worth INR 53,000.

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