Maoist Major Incidents 2007

Andhra Pradesh

2007

December 5: Three suspected CPI-Maoist cadres were killed during an exchange of fire with police near Edupulamma forest area in the Mampa police station limits of Visakhapatnam district.

November 16: Three persons, including two migrant tribals from the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, were killed by cadres of the CPI-Maoist in Narsingpet village of Chintoor mandal in Khammam district. Before the killing, the Maoists reportedly grilled them in the presence of the villagers by organising a panchayati (village level meeting) and branded them as police informants.

October 19: Four left-wing extremists belonging to the CPI-ML- Janashakthi group were killed in an encounter with police near Gattumalla village in Kothagudem mandal of Khammam district. According to the police, the gun battle occurred during a combing operation by the special police squad in the area. When the police ordered them to lay down arms and surrender, the extremists opened fire and got killed in the retaliatory fire by the police.

September 26: Police killed four Pedabayalu dalam cadres of the CPI-Maoist, including three women cadres, in an encounter at Amidala village in the G. Madugula mandal of Visakhapatnam district. Police also recovered two .303 rifles, two double barrel breech loading guns, five kit bags and a tapancha from the incident site.

March 5: A Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) member belonging to the Congress Party, identified as Prem Prakash, was shot dead by CPI-Maoist cadres near Marikal village in Pedda Kothapally mandal of Mahabubnagar district.

March 2: Three CPI-Maoist cadres including a woman cadre were killed during an encounter with the anti-naxal squad police at a remote place between Marriguda and Thangalkota in the East Godavari district. The slain Maoists are not yet identified and are believed to be top Maoist leaders of Orissa.

January 23: Ranga Reddy, a functionary of the youth wing of the ruling Congress party in Prakasam district, was killed by CPI-Maoist cadres in Laxmipuram village near the Nallamala forest area.

Jharkhand

2007

October 28: Five people were killed by the CPI-Maoist cadres in the Boda village of Latehar district. According to police, the five people were abducted from their villages and subsequently killed in the nearby forest. Lathehar Superintendent of Police, Ravikant Dhan, said that the bullet-ridden bodies of the four persons were recovered near a culvert at Boda village. The whereabouts of the fifth one is yet to be ascertained. A hand written note reportedly found near the bodies accused that the victims are supporters of Trititya Prastuti Samiti, the police said.

Three CPI-Maoist cadres were killed by the SFs in an encounter when Maoists opened fire on the SFs who were raiding certain areas in the Latehar and Lohardaga districts. Latehar and Lohardaga district Superintendents of Police, Ravikant Dhan and Subodh Prasad respectively, said the bodies of the three slain cadres were recovered from the spot. "The police party stumbled upon the rebels near Bijubaithan hamlet in Lohar-daga this morning. There was a fierce gun battle where the police were able to kill three Maoist rebels," said Deputy Inspector General of Police (personnel), R.K. Mallick. The police also claimed to have recovered one self-loading rifle, one carbine and two rifles from the spot.

October 27: 18 persons, including the son of former Jharkhand Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi, were killed by armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist at Chilkhadia village in Giridih district. According to the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Arun Kumar Singh, around 25-30 Maoists mingled with the crowd at a cultural programme in the village and later around 1 am, they suddenly opened indiscriminate fire and exploded bombs killing 14 people on the spot, while three others succumbed to their injuries later. Four people were wounded in the attack. Babulal Marandi disclosed that his son, Anup, was among those killed but his brother had escaped the attack. He stated: "My family has been a target of the naxals... they should be more careful. As per my information the Maoists were in CRPF uniform, sat with the crowd watching the cultural programme and attacked during the closing part."

September 12: Cadres of the Tritiya Prastuti Committee abducted four supporters of the CPI-Maoist, identified as Amit Jaiswal, S Sao, Raj Kishore Pareiha and Mahesh Ram and killed them in Barwadih village of Lather district. The bodies were reportedly recovered from Balumath area on September 14.

Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT) cadres, a left-wing extremist group, killed three supporters of the TPC in Bano forest area of Simdega district.

May 29: Cadres of the Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT), a left-wing extremist group, shot dead four supporters of the rival TPC outfit, identified as Arjun Ganjhu alias Tasala Ganjhu, Jahru Ganjhu, Sukhan Ganjhu and Paras Ganjhu, at Barwa Toli near Salechnawa village under Balumath police station area in the Latehar district

May 28: CPI-Maoist cadres abducted and subsequently killed four members of the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, with sharp edged weapons in the Latehar district. Jharkhand Director General of Police, J. B. Mahapatra, said, "The killing is outcome of fight for collection of levy from the coal traders. Earlier members of CPI-Maoist were abducted by the TPC over fight for levy collection. And the killing is outcome of retaliation of CPI-Maoist".

May 12: CRPF personnel killed five CPI-Maoist cadres, including two women extremists, during an encounter in the jungle of Tutitola village of Garwah district. Four self loading rifles, one AK rifle and some other objectionable material were recovered from the site of encounter.

April 9: Eight left-wing extremists belonging to a breakaway group called Tritiya Prastuti Committee (Third Preparatory Committee), a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, were killed in a clash with 100 CPI-Maoist cadres near Bhadgao under Balumath police area, in the Latehar district. One CPI-Maoist cadre was also killed and several others injured in the gun battle.

April 6: Six people, including two security force personnel, were killed when an armed group of approximately 300 CPI-Maoist cadres attacked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) camp and the adjoining Gandhinagar police station building in the Bokaro thermal power city area of Bokaro district. Maoists exploded a series of bombs and also blew up the Pilpilo road bridge connecting the Central Coalfields Limited’s Khashmahal project with the main highway.

March 4: CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead Sunil Kumar Mahato, a member of parliament (MP) belonging to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), who was witnessing a football match organised to mark Holi festivals at Bakuria village in the East Singhbhum district. Two of his bodyguards, a civilian and two party colleagues were also killed in the attack.

Bihar

2007

December 19: Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, including Assistant Commandant B K Kapil, were killed during an encounter with the CPI-Maoist cadres near Kadma village under Rajepur police station in the East Champaran district. A joint team of Bihar Police and the para-military CRPF personnel engaged the Maoists when they were retreating from Lakhsminia village in the adjoining Sheohar district following a police raid there. Three Maoists were also killed during the encounter although body of only one of them was recovered during the subsequent search operations.

December 10: Around 100 armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist killed four persons at Sukki village in the Vaishali district. Armed Maoists reportedly surrounded the village from all sides and stood guard while their comrades carried out the attack. The extremists also attacked the house of the village head and tried to set it ablaze. Official sources said that Sukki village dominated by landed upper caste-Bhumihars has been a traditional target of the Maoists.

September 23: Three persons, including one police personnel were killed and another was injured during a 24-hour bandh called by the CPI-Maoist in Bihar. Police sources said that the armed Maoists set ablaze six trucks and two buses on the Grand Trunk (GT) Road and seven trucks at another place in the Gaya district. Encounter between the Maoists and the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) personnel occurred on the GT Road resulting in the death of a SAP personnel, a private bus driver and the helper of the bus. Another injured truck driver was subsequently hospitalised in Gaya. The Maoists took some passengers of a bus hostage while retreating, but later released them.

August 19: CPI-Maoist cadres attacked the house of the block (administrative division) chief Guddu Sharma and shot dead his wife, uncle and a private bodyguard in the Maker village of Saran district. Over 50 Maoists surrounded the house of Sharma and opened indiscriminate fire killing three persons. Before fleeing they set a private vehicle, a tractor, and a motorcycle on fire.

June 30: A group of 250 cadres of the CPI-Maoist carried out simultaneous attacks on the Rajpur police station and Baghaila outpost in Bihar's Rohtas district killing six police personnel and seven civilians. Eight persons, including four policemen, were injured in the attack.The Maoists looted four self-loading rifles, eight .303 rifles, two INSAS rifles and three carbines, besides hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The Maoists also blew up the police station and outpost using dynamites before escaping.

February 27: CPI-Maoist cadres killed four police personnel and blew up railway tracks at two places in the Lakhisarai district. Police sources said that the Maoists attacked a camp of Bihar Military Police at Khaira village and killed four policemen besides wounding three others. The extremists decamped with one carbine, three self-loading rifles and ammunition.

Chhattisgarh

2007

December 20: Around 12 policemen were killed following an ambush by the CPI-Maoist cadres in a dense forest near Tarlaguda in the Dantewada district. Police said that 33 police personnel were escorting six policemen, who had fallen ill at Kistaram police station when the Maoists ambushed them in the area. "The police party comprised 33 jawans and 21 have returned safely to the Golapalli police station while the rest of them are missing," said the Director General of Police, Vishwaranjan.

December 12: Three police personnel were killed and another wounded when armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist attacked the Bishrampur Police station in the Bastar district. "Over 50 armed Naxalites came in four vehicles to Bishrampur Police station on Wednesday night and opened indiscriminate firing and then triggered multiple landmine blasts," said the Bastar Range Inspector General of Police (IGP), Rajinder Kumar Vij. The extremists later exploded three land mines and blew up the police station.

December 4: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed three civilians of the Janglagaon government relief camp in the Bijapur district. All the three civilians went to a nearby river area and were later reported missing. Their dead bodies were reportedly recovered on December 4-morning.

November 29: 10 personnel of the Mizoram Reserve Police were among 12 persons killed in a landmine explosion triggered by the CPI-Maoist cadres near Konta in the Dantewada district. The police personnel were returning to Konta after some purchases from the weekly local market at Banda, when the private jeep they were travelling was blown up by the landmine explosion. Police said the explosion was so powerful that the dead and mutilated bodies were traced in the vicinity of 300 to 400 meters from the blast site. "We have recovered all the bodies and security forces have been pressed into an intensive search operation in the area," the Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) R K Vij informed. The other two persons killed were the driver of the vehicle and an unidentified boy. The Maoists, who detonated the landmine, also reportedly looted arms, including seven AK-47 rifles, before escaping from the incident site.

November 12: Cadres of the CPI-Maoist ambushed a 14-member CRPF party and killed three of them, between the Pamalwaya and Cherpal villages in Bijapur district. The others escaped unhurt in the attack. The incident occurred when the Maoists opened indiscriminate firing towards the CRPF personnel when they were proceeding towards Bijapur after patrolling the area in motorcycles. Maoists also decamped with a light machine gun and two rifles from the CRPF personnel.

November 2: Around 100 cadres of the CPI-Maoist ambushed a police party near Pamedu police station of Bijapur district and killed 16 policemen, including six CRPF personnel. The Maoists first triggered a landmine explosion and then indiscriminately fired on the policemen killing 16 of them. However, five injured policemen managed to escape and reported the ambush in Pamedu police station. The incident occurred when the police party was on its way to receive a team of department officials coming from Gollapalli with money drawn for salary disbursement.

October 29: Five Special Police Officers were killed and three seriously injured when around 250-300 CPI-Maoist cadres surrounded a police party near Pamulavayi village in Bijapur district and opened indiscriminate fire. Bastar Inspector General, R K Vij told, "The incident took place when a police team, including 16 SPOs and four constables, was going to Gangaloor where road construction was being carried out. When the team reached near the village, the Maoists opened fire at them, killing five SPOs and injuring three." Police sources said that the attack was well-planned, as the rebels opened fire from all corners, not allowing the police party to retaliate. Maoists have also decamped with some weapons of the police party.

August 29: At least 12 security force (SF) personnel were killed in an ambush by the CPI-Maoist cadres near Jagargunda forests of Dantewada district. About 200 armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of the SF personnel while it was en route to secure an area at Tarmekla village in Jagargunda, where the Maoists had blocked construction of a road. "The team comprising Chhattisgarh Armed Force, SPOs and cops was divided into two groups. The Maoists hiding in the area ambushed the rear party and opened fire on them," Director General of Police (DGP), Vishwaranjan said. There was heavy exchange of fire during which the police party got fragmented and scattered in the forests. When the policemen regrouped, 15 of their men were missing and were presumed dead but three policemen returned to the camp in the evening. "Though 25 security men returned to the Jagargunda police station by evening, 12 of them, including Jagargunda SHO Hemant Kumar, were killed in the attack," the DGP said. Six police personnel were wounded in the gun battle. The Maoists also looted sophisticated weapons like AK-47s, SLRs and .303 rifles, police sources said.

August 26: 400 Maoist cadres of the CPI-Maoist attacked a government relief camp at Patarpara village near Bhairamgarh in the Dantewada district and killed four Salwa Judum activists and injured seven more. Maoists also destroyed the houses and looted food grains.

July 17: Cadres of the CPI-Maoist killed five farmers and assaulted five others in separate incidents at Gunapara and Nayapara villages under Gangaloor and Jangala police station areas of Bijapur district. The farmers reportedly had defied Maoists ban on cultivation in Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada, Bastar and Kanker districts.

July 9: At least 24 security force personnel and 20 CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in a gun battle that occurred when a joint team of the CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police personnel were combing the Elampatti-Regadgatta forest area of Dantewada district. The killed security force personnel included 16 CRPF personnel, including an Assistant Commandant, six special police officers (SPOs) and two from Dantewada district forces.

June 17: Three CPI-Maoist cadres were killed by the police in an encounter near Gangallur village in the Bijapur district. Maoists reportedly opened fire towards a police party who were returning from a combing operation. Police personnel retaliated and during subsequent search operations, recovered three dead bodies of the CPI-Maoist cadres along with one 12-bore rifle, one home-made rifle and a live landmine from the incident site.

June 5: Three employees of the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board were killed and five Special Task Force personnel sustained injuries in a CPI-Maoist-triggered landmine blast near Kapsi in the Narayanpur district. The incident occurred when the truck in which they were traveling hit a landmine, on their way to Jharaghati, a forested area, to repair three high-tension electricity towers that were blown up by Maoists on June 1.

June 2: Four CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in a gun battle with the police in the forested stretch of Sendra area in the Bijapur district. The gun battle occurred when the Maoists opened fire towards the policemen who were conducting counter-insurgency operations. "The security forces retaliated and gunned down four Maoists," a police office told. However, several others managed to escape.

May 30: The CPI-Maoist cadres abducted and killed three civilians, alleging them to be police informants, at Gotulgunda village in the Dornapal area of Dantewada district. Police recovered their dead bodies near Kankerlanka village on May 31-morning.

May 28: Nine police personnel were killed and three others sustained injuries in landmine blasts carried out by CPI-Maoist cadres and the subsequent exchange of fire that lasted an hour, near Kudur village between Kondagaon and Mardapal in the Bastar district. The Maoists reportedly looted arms and ammunition including automatic weapons from the police before fleeing from the incident site.

Three civilians were killed by CPI-Maoist cadres in the Bansaguda area of Dantewada district. One of the slain civilians, identified as Rajeev Pujari, was labelled as a police informer by the Maoists.

April 26: Four police personnel were killed and 16 others injured when CPI-Maoist cadres detonated a landmine blast targeting a Police vehicle at Michgaon village near the forest belt of Durgkondal in the Kanker district. Three of the victims were identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector Najgir Baksh, Lokesh Sahu and the vehicle driver Asharam Dugga. Subsequently, another security force personnel succumbed to his injuries taking the toll to five.

April 10: Three senior activists of the Salwa Judum movement were reportedly abducted and then killed by the CPI-Maoist in the Dantewada district. The victims' bodies were recovered from a remote forested part of the Dantewada district.

March 17: Police personnel during an encounter killed five CPI-Maoist cadres in the forested Farsegarh area of Bijapur police district of southern Chhattisgarh. Following the encounter that lasted for two hours, "one body was recovered while the ultras carried away four bodies into the forest", a police official said.

March 15: 55 persons, including 16 personnel of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force and 39 Special Police Officers (SPOs), were killed and 12 persons were injured in an offensive by CPI-Maoist cadres on a police base camp at Rani Bodli village of Bijapur Police District in the Bastar Division. The Maoists took away 39 weapons including self-loading rifles, AK-47 rifles .303 rifles and a mortar from the police camp. According to reports, only 11 of the 79 police personnel and SPOs posted at the camp managed to escape. Chhattisgarh Inspector General of Police Girdhari Naik said on March 16 that, from the forensic reports, the police has pegged the casualties in the Maoist ranks at 10 to 12.

March 1: Eight persons, including six security force personnel, were killed in a landmine blast triggered by CPI-Maoist cadres at Mettagudem near the Injaram base camp in the Dantewada district on the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border. The incident occurred when SF personnel of the Naga battalion were returning to the base camp along with a group of civilians in a lorry after the night-long combing operations in the forest area.

February 14: CPI-Maoist killed three activists of the anti-Maoist vigilante movement, Salwa Judum, in the Bijapur area.

February 8: Six security force personnel and a civilian were killed in a powerful landmine explosion at Bhairamgarh in Bijapur. The SF personnel were trying to defuse explosives earlier recovered in the area, suspected to have been planted by the CPI-Maoist cadres.

January 31: Two senior CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in a forested stretch of Bijapur in the Bastar district, near the Andhra Pradesh border, in an hour-long encounter. Police shot dead a Maoist during a shootout in the Dantewada district.

January 21: Three CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in a gun battle between Maoists and the joint team of the local police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the forest area of Timarpur in the Bastar district.

Two CPI-Maoist cadres and a police constable were killed during a two-hour encounter in the Bhejji area of Dantewada district. The police also claimed to have arrested two women Maoists.

January 16: Seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the Kanker area of Bastar district. A team of 30 CRPF personnel were on a joint patrol when the explosion occurred.

January 8: Four cadres belonging to the CPI-Maoist, including two women cadres, were killed during an encounter with the police in the Chhinari forest area under Chhote Dongar police station in the Narayanpur district.

Orissa

2007

June 22: Cadres of the CPI-Maoist killed three persons in the Deogarh district. The Deputy Superintendent of Police in Deogarh, R. C. Sahu, said that one person from Telkusumi village and two persons from Raniguda village were dragged out of their houses and tied with a rope before being hacked to death using sharp weapons by the Maoists. A contractor too was killed in a similar fashion at an unspecified location in the same district.

January 31: Three forest employees were killed by suspected CPI-Maoist cadres in the Kandhar forest area of Kankadahada block in the Dhenkanal district. Leaflets found near the dead bodies said that the killings were in retaliation against the deaths of 13 tribals in police firing at Kalinga Nagar on January 2, 2006.

Karnataka

2007

July 10: Five cadres of the CPI-Maoist were killed in an encounter with the Anti-Naxal Special Police Force at Ammadlu village near Menasinahadya in the Chikmagalur district. Police identified the Maoists as Gautam, a member of state committee of CPI-Maoist, Parameshwar, secretary of the Kudremukh National Park Virodhi Okkuta, Sundaresh, Ramegowda and Kaveri. Two other Maoists managed to escape from the incident site. A police constable sustained bullet injuries. Local people, however, claimed that four of the killed were inmates of a house in the forests in which the Maoists had taken shelter. Police sources said that the police party was fired upon by the Maoists after they were asked to surrender. A Sten Gun with ammunition, one tapancha (country-made pistol) and an unexploded grenade, a cell phone, maps, tents and pamphlets were recovered from the encounter site.

Maharashtra

2007

December 3: Police claimed to have killed four cadres of the CPI-Maoist in an encounter at Katta area in the Etapalli tehsil (administrative division) of Gadchiroli district. However, their dead bodies are believed to have been carried away by their fellow cadres. The police also recovered a single-barrel gun, and two explosives of 15-20 kg each from the incident site.